Rite of Passage
by Humanity's Writer
Summary: Naiyamé Takahashi lived a normal, cheerful life with her mother and her two childhood friends Jean and Marco. But that all comes crashing down when the Titans take everything she knew away from her. Filled with rage and hatred, she vows to exterminate the Titans. But when she joins the military not only does she learn how to kill Titans, she learns how to love again. JeanXOC
1. Character Description

Hi! I'm Megan. This is my first FanFiction Story so I really hope it does well. Its going to follow the whole story of Attack on Titan so far. This story revolves around Jean and my own character I created Naiyamé with a little bit of Marco of course. Hope you enjoy it.

Below is just a character description of the main characters in this story.

**Naiyamé Takahashi**  
Age: 15  
Personality before the fall of Wall Maria: Cheerful, happy, shy, tomsboy  
Personality after the fall of Wall Maria: Cold, detached, hostile, quiet  
Hobbies: Playing with Marco and Jean, having contests against Jean, star gazing  
Eye color: Green (Heterochromia causes a amber color to surround her pupil)  
Hair color: Auburn  
Hair Length: Medium-length (falls at chest)  
Height: 5'5  
Weight: 106 pounds  
Body type: Slim  
Skin color: Pale white  
Additional features: 2ft scar on back, 6in scar on right arm

* * *

**Jean Kirschtein**  
Age: 15  
Personality before the fall of Wall Maria: Happy, brave, curious, blunt, cocky  
Personality after the fall of Wall Maria: Cool, blunt, cocky, afraid  
Hobbies: Tree climbing, playing with Naiyamé and Marco, teasing Naiyamé  
Eye color: Hazel  
Hair color: Light brown  
Hair length: Short (shaven on the sides, spiky and unshaved at top)  
Height: 5'8  
Weight: 143 pounds  
Body type: Slim, muscular  
Skin color: Tanned white  
Additional features: None

* * *

**Marco Bodt**  
Age: 16  
Personality before the fall of Wall Maria: Happy, kind, selfless, honest, faithful  
Personality after the fall of Wall Maria: Happy, kind, selfless, honest, faithful  
Hobbies: Playing with Naiyamé and Jean, babysitting younger siblings, daydreaming  
Eye color: Brown  
Hair color: Black  
Hair length: Short (spilt evenly down the middle)  
Height: 5'10  
Weight: 154 pounds  
Body type: Slim, muscular  
Skin color: Tanned white  
Additional features: Freckles on face

* * *

Eren Jaeger

Age: 15

Personality before Wall Maria: Happy, cocky, selfless, proud, determined, hot-headed

Personality after Wall Maria: Cocky, hot-headed, determined, proud, snappy

Hobbies: Playing with Mikasa and Armin

Eye color: Teal

Hair Color: Dark brown

Hair length: Fair (split evenly)

Height: 5'7

Weight: 138 pounds


	2. The Good Old Days

Year 845, 10 year-old Naiyamé Takahashi lives a happy cheerful life with her mother and her friends she had since she was 7, Marco and Jean. Naiyamé was an only child in her family. She never knew her father because he died honorably in the Scouting Legion, fighting against the Titans before she was even born. Her life wasn't the simplest but it never brought her down.

With the little money her mother received from the Scouting Legion weekly, she could only afford to live in the Shiganshina District in Wall Maria, near the outer part of the Wall. Naiyamé's mother was always slightly worried about being so close to the Titans but shes always been safe living in the outer district.

Naiyamé met Marco and Jean while trying to run away from some shopkeepers that she stole food from. They chased her all the way to the other side of the city. Marco and Jean were wrestling when young Naiyamé tripped over them, not paying attention to the road in front of her. They noticed her out of breath and they heard angry yelling not that far away.

They acted quickly and hid Naiyamé inside Jean's house since Marco and Jean lived next door to each other. Ever since that day, they've been the best of friends and they all dreamed of joining the Military Police one day to live the the comfy, interior life they've always desired.

Jean and Naiyamé of course, both being tough and stubborn kids, always tried to compete against each other in any way that they could. Whether it be who could run the fastest, jump the highest, throw the farthest, be the strongest, they were rivals against each other. But Naiyamé always beat Jean in every competition which would result in Jean insulting her, which would result in Naiyamé either insulting him back or just whacking him over the head.

There was another thing Naiyamé that made her stand out, she was tough. She didn't like being girly. She didn't like wearing skirts or dresses. She was a total tomsboy. She liked to wrestle against Marco and Jean, they would even have tournaments to see who was the champion. Whenever the trio weren't wrestling or in a rumble, they would sit high up in the trees, sharing snacks with each other and look at the interior wall.

They were always imagining how they would have a nice big house with golden furniture and a big pond and all the luxuries the rich got to enjoy. One day, one day they would go beyond those walls.


	3. On That Day

Warning! This chapter is extremely graphic and violent! Do not read if you have a weak stomach please, thank you!

* * *

Year 845, Naiyamé was traveling back home after playing with Jean and Marco. She was greeted by her mother not with hugs and kisses but with complaints of how she was late for dinner and dirty her clothes were from wrestling on the ground with Jean and Marco. Naiyamé was really starting to get annoyed by her mother's bickering towards her. It always seemed like there wasn't a day her mother couldn't go without criticizing her tomboyish personality or her non-feminine outlooks.

Well Naiyamé have had enough of it. She was fed up. She marched towards her basement door, slammed it shut and locked herself inside. It was dark in her room but she had a small amount of light thanks to the basement window she had. She was able to see the Survey Corps leave for their expeditions through that window. Naiyamé always noticed how there were more members leaving the gates than there were coming back. She never really knew how exactly her father died. All her mother told her was that he died a heroic death and that was all she needed to know.

Naiyamé laid down on her bed. Her stomach cried out for missing dinner. She ignored her stomach's cries and tried to fall asleep. But something woke her up. She felt the whole house shake. She thought she imagined it first until she heard the loudest bang and crash ever heard in her life and saw that the ceiling above her was beginning to collapse. Frightened, she quickly dove under her bed and covered her eyes as her house came crashing down. Once she felt the house stop shaking, she opened her eyes to see everything had fallen to the ground.

Naiyamé had to shove hard against a few pieces of broken wood so she could get out from under her bed. She saw that the stairs were completely covered by what was left of her house but her small basement window was still intact, not even a single crack covered it. She called out for her mom but got no answer. Naiyamé was getting really scared by this point but she want to be strong and act calm. Her window's lock was jammed from all the years it'd gone untouched so Naiyamé grabbed a thick piece of wood and smashed the window open. She dropped her window-breaking tool and began to crawl outside.

Naiyamé's arm and back got slashed badly by the broken pieces of glass still attached to window. She winced and cried out in pain as the glass cut deeper into her frail porcelain skin. Once she finally crawled out of the window, she looked around to see everything was in total chaos. All of the houses around her had collapsed as well as her own, people were running away and screaming. She looked to her left to see a large hole in the wall that towered over her home (which is what she assumed was the loud crash she heard). But then she saw a figure move through the hole. It looked like a really big, big man and it had a large sinister grin on it's face which frightened Naiyamé deeply.

The big man continued to walk a little until it bent over to grab something. She couldn't see what was in his hand very but it was squirming and screaming until she realized it was a person. Naiyamé's heart was racing as she was watching what would the big man do next. And what the big man did do next, horrified Naiyamé. The big man opened his big mouth wide and brought the human closer and closer to it's mouth until it slowly closed it's mouth just slightly over the person's neck and bit down, decapitating the poor victim.

The big man turned its head toward Naiyamé, still keeping that same sinister grin it had before and spit the head in it's mouth out. The head came flying towards Naiyamé and landed only a few feet away from her.

Naiyamé wide-eyed, slowly began to turn her head, her was heart racing so fast, she thought it might explode. She finally laid her eyes on the decapitated head. His mouth was wide open, eyes lifeless but she could still easily see the terror in them, blood pouring out from the bottom of his neck, creating a small red pool. She turned her attention back towards the big scary man to see him rocking his jaws, chewing on the corpse, Naiyamé could her the crunch of the monster breaking all of the corpse's bones. She wanted to throw up from the sound of it.

But then she realized, it was coming for her next and her mom was still trapped under the house. Naiyamé ran to the top of the rubble which was once her loving home dug through it, screaming for her mother, refusing to leave her. Naiyamé heard a muffled noise coming from deep within the rubble.

"Naiyamé run away. Run away sweetheart please." Her mother said in a weak and sweet voice that just made Naiyamé teary.

"No! I'm not leaving without you mom. Hurry up and get out, the big scary man is coming!" The frightened but determined Naiyamé cried.

"Naiyamé just listen to your mother for once! Run away NOW! Its too late for me. Please sweetheart. I love you so much. Please listen to my last wish." This time, he voice was much weaker and Naiyamé could tell she was fighting back tears from the tone in her voice.

She got that same tone whenever Naiyamé asked what happened to her father.  
Naiyamé was so, so scared. She wasn't trying to be brave or calm anymore. She was a scared little girl. With the deepest regret, Naiyamé decided to listen to her mother. Just for once. It was her mother's dying wish. She wanted Naiyamé to leave her.

"I'm so, so sorry Mommy...I'm so, so sorry. I love you Mommy." We're the last words Naiyamé said to her mother before running away, endless tears flowing down her cheeks. Naiyamé ran a few meters and hid behind a tree and looked back to see the big scary monster digging through the rubble before she finally saw her mother, covered in blood, emerge from the rubble in the monster's hand.

"No, no, no...Please don't eat my Mommy you big monster." Naiyamé silently pleaded, shivering and gripping on to the tree so tightly, it was hurting her fingers.  
The monster brought Naiyamé's thrashing mother closer to it's face, still keeping that murderous sinister grin on its ugly face.

"No." was all Naiyamé could say as the monster brought her screaming mother closer and closer. The monster held Naiyamé's mother by her arms with both of his hands and slowly started to pull them in opposite directions. Naiyamé's mother screamed even louder as the monster pulled one of her arms cleanly off and ate it slowly. Naiyamé screamed at the top of her lungs at the gory sight before her young, innocent eyes.

"Mommy!" Its almost like it knew Naiyamé was watching it her beloved mother. The monster continued to pull each of it's victim's limbs off her body, one at a time. Her screaming increasing as each limb was pulled off. Naiyamé was screaming in sheer terror and shaking like a leaf, she feel onto her knees, covering her mouth as her had became stained with tears.

She heard every crunch the monster made chewing on her mother's limbs. He tore off and ate both her legs and arms until there was just her mother's torso left before the monster bit down on it in half, her mother's blood stained it's face as he ate her beloved mother. The last thing she remembers hearing is the sound of her mother's bones crunching, the last thing she remembers smelling is burnt flesh, the last thing she remembers seeing is someone carrying her and running away from the monster that killed her mother before she lost her consciousness.


	4. The Aftermath

Naiyamé woke up, sore in a cotton white bed, watching blurry figures rush pass her. When her vision finally cleared up, she saw masses of injured refugees and nurses covered in blood dashing all around, try to help as many people as they could. One nurse walked by Naiyamé and noticed she was awake and walked over towards her

"Glad to see your awake there sweetheart. You had a nasty scratch on your back but we patched it up and you should be just fine." Naiyamé was still half awake and confused to what had just happened to her. Was she still dreaming?

"Where..Am I?.." Naiyamé asked as her head throbbed in pain.

"Your at a set up clinic in Wall Rose. Wall Maria was breached by the Titans and everyone escaped to Wall Rose. A soldier brought you in unconscious. He said you passed out and a Titan was about to grab you until he grabbed you and started running away. Your very lucky to be alive." Naiyamé couldn't proccess what she just said. "Titans." Thats what the monster is called that her killed her mother, a Titan.

"Whats your name sweetheart?" The nurse asked with a pen and clipboard in hand, ready to write down Naiyamé's response.

"Its Naiyamé. Naiyamé Takahashi..." Naiyamé responded quietly.

"And where are your parents Naiyamé?" The nurse asked calmly. Naiyamé paused quietly. Realizing the answer she would have to give was one that shattered her heart.

"They'r-They're...They're..dea-dead." With tears flowing down her cheeks once again. She hated the feeling of tears running down her face.

"Oh sweetheart, I'm so sorry...I know this is hard for you right now but do you have any relatives you could stay with?" The nurse asked as gently as she could.

"No. My parents were the only children in their families and my grandparents on both sides died before I was even born. And I don't know any one else that could take me in." Naiyamé replied, trying to calm herself down.

"Oh you poor little angel. Im so sorry that this happened to you. I hate to say this but there isn't much else I can do now. They best I can do now is offer you some clean clothes and some rations but thats about it. I'm sorry sweetheart." The nurse said as kindly as she could but Naiyamé didn't care. She didn't want pity taken on her. It made her feel weak, and she hated feeling weak more than anything else. The nurse had her get out of bed and guided her to a lost and found box.

"Don't worry. Nobody ever comes to claim anything from here anyways. Might as well make it useful." She said rubbing her back, careful not to rub over Naiyamé's bandages. Naiyamé searched through the box and found some knee-length black shorts, and a long-sleeved light-pink shirt that was a tad too big for her but she didn't care.

"I'll be right back, I'm gonna go grab your shoes so you can go ahead and change." The nurse said kindly and left the room. Naiyamé quickly changed into her clothes, wincing in pain as she went to put the shirt on because of her wound. The nurse returned just in time with Naiyamé's shoes. Naiyamé sat down and put them on while the nurse keeled in front of her and took her hand when she finished putting them on.

"I'll take you to the refugee's center and get you fixed up and set there okay?" The nurse said with a smile on her face. Naiyamé just simply nodded okay for the nurse. She was getting sick of the nurse using that sweet, pity tone on her. She never liked it when anyone talked to her like she was a baby.

The Nurse was holding Naiymé's hand which she wanted nothing more than to just swipe away from her grip. There hundreds and hundreds of refugees surrounding the two. Their loud yelling and shouting hurt Naiyamé's head even more. Naiyamé saw two lines of refugees. One line was handing out rations and food, the other was of refugees signing papers which Naiyamé assumed were registry papers and such. The nurse knelled down again to and pointed to the two lines behind her.

"I'm sorry Naiyamé but I have to get back to the clinic, theres alot of of people who need my help. The first line behind you will give rations and everything you need. The second line will help get you registered as a citizen of Wall Rose. I'm sorry you lost your parents, I am. But your a very strong and brave girl, I know you can handle this. Good luck Naiyamé." The nurse kissed her forehead and walked away. Leaving Naiyamé to fend for herself.

Before Naiyamé got in line, she searched all over to see if she could find Jean or Marco. She searched for about an hour, walking around, shouting out their names before her hungry stomach made her give up and she got in line to get to receive her food rations. While waiting in line, she overheard some soldiers talking.

"Why do we have to give our food to outsiders?" The soldier said with a annoyed tone. Naiyamé's eyes went wide when she heard the soldier say that and listened more closely to him.

"I mean, the Titans broke through the Wall anyway. They should've eaten more of them." The soldiers disgusting remarks made a flame in Naiyamé light up. It was flame of anger. Naiyamé stepped out of line and walked towards the soldier.

"This will just make the food shortage worst." Naiyamé kicked the soldier as hard she could, she was postive she bruised her foot in the process. Her kick made the soldier flinch and angry.

"What the hell do you think your doing you brat?" The soldier said as he punched Naiyamé. Naiyamé fell to the ground in pain as the soldier stand next to the one that just punched her, kicked her in her side we made her squeal in pain. But it wasn't enough to shut Naiyamé. She was gonna speak her mind damn well to this bastard.

"You don't know what you're talking about! You've never seen it happen with your own eyes!" Naiyamé screamed angrily at them, which made the soldiers gasp.

"How the Titans eat people..." Tears formed at Naiyamé's eyes as she thought of how she just witnessed her own mother being torn apart limb from limb and these guys were dehumanizing the refugees just because they were hungry. It disgusted Naiyamé. They were not soldiers sworn to protect humanity, they were pigs, less than pigs. Naiyamé's outburst angered the soldier as he walked closer towards her

"Shut up you brat!" Naiyamé quickly stood up to avoid being kicked on the ground again. He moved to punch her again but she dodged it and kicked him where it hurt the most. Hard. The soldier fell to the ground in pain while the soldier that kicker her earlier, tried to grab her but she was too fast for him and ran off, away from everyone and everything. Fighting back tears once again.


	5. The Vow

Naiyamé ran as far as her feet could take her, they were throbbing in pain from all the running she did on the cobblestone ground, as well as the pain from the kicking the soldier accompanied with it. She was near the gate to Wall Maria and saw soldiers swarming over it.

She saw a quite plain field with lone tree and decided to rest there. She sat down and leaned against the tree, trying to catch her breath, gazing at the small river that flowed from outside the walls. She looked at the water for awhile until she started to notice bits of dubree and blood in the water. Horrified at the reminder of what happened to her home, she turned her head away from the view of the river and started to climb up to very top of the tree to see smoke rising out from behind the place she used to call home.

She sat on the highest branch that could support her and just stared at the smoke rising. She finally let the tears flow down face that she was holding back. She didn't make a single noise though. She wanted those tears and happy memories to leave silently. To her, the smoke was reminding her of her place in this cruel world. That she was just an insect waiting to be squished to the Titans.

The wind silently blew in her face, the smell of death filling her nose. Sitting up on this branch without Marco and Jean made her feel so alone. She didn't even know if they were alive or not. She lost everything. She lost her home, her innocence, and the last little bit of family she had left. And she knew who was responsible for taking it all away from here. The Titans. They didn't kill her but they took away her life. And to her, that was worse than being dead. Living on with no hope or anything to leave behind.

Soon that little flame that was flickering earlier from the soldier's remarks started to rise up and grow bigger and bigger. She abandoned all of her happy memories there. They only emotions she allowed herself to feel were anger and hatred. It was then with piercing hatred in her eyes that she vowed to kill the Titans. She vowed to become strong. She didn't want to join the Military police anymore like Jean and Marco wanted to. She wanted to be in the Scouting Legion like her proud father. She didn't care if she died anymore, she had nothing else to live for except to kill the Titans.


	6. Patience and Coldness

_A few days after the downfall of Wall Maria, the refugees were all sent to cultivate land and to secure food. But that couldn't prevent the food shortage. In the follow year 846, the Central Government launched a campaign to retake wall Maria using the refugees. There 250 thousand of them. Almost of a fifth of the total population. However, only about a hundred survived. With their sacrifice, the food shortage has improved, albeit a little, for those who survived._

* * *

Naiyamé was now 11. Since That Day, she changed drastically. She no longer smiled. She never played with the other children. She never talked to anyone. She would just stare at the wall at night, waiting for the day she got to kill the Titans. Waiting for the day she might be able to go back home. She wasn't the little girl who liked to laugh and smile. She was cold and detached from everything except for her goal.

Naiyamé rejected anyone that tried to come close to her and did not have any friends. She was all alone. She did this because she didn't want to have to go through that pain of losing someone she cared about. So she made sure she never got attached to anyone so she wouldn't go through that pain.

She hadn't seen Jean or Marco since the day Wall Maria breached and assumed they were dead. She abandoned those happy memories she made with Marco and Jean. Never to be thought of again. But they would always manifest in her sleep. Every night she was tormented with the nightmare of watching her mother being eaten. Some nights she would be eaten, other night Marco and Jean would be eaten. She cursed her mind for playing that memory over and over again.

She had one more year to wait until she could enlist into the army and it couldn't go by any faster but she waited patiently. Knowing her day would come where the Titans would feel the fury of her's and the fury of Mankind. She waited patiently, in coldness. Knowing the day would come soon.


	7. The Process

_Year 847, two years had passed since the downfall of Wall Maria. Naiyamé was 12 years old now. Her waiting had finally paid off. She was here. Today would be the first day. The first day Naiyamé gets to put her goal into action. The first step towards the extinction of Titans._

* * *

"You are now officially members of the training unit no. 104! Unfortunately for you, I, Keith Shardis, will be in charge. I'm not here to give you a warm welcome. All of you are now merely livestock, waiting to be eaten by Titans. You're even worse than livestock! For the next three years, I'll train you useless shits. I'll teach you how to fight the Titans! When you face a Titan in three years, will you still be just food? Or will you become a glorious wall to protect these walls? Or a mighty champion of Mankind who will destroy the Titans? The choice lies in your hands." the head instructor shouted.

A normal soldier might have found Keith Shardis intimidating. He was very tall, towering over most of the young soldiers. He looked to be in his mid-50's, possibly early 60's. He was bald and the wrinkles on his forehead and eyes which enhanced his age. His most notable features were the dark circles around his eyes which made him frightening. Not to Naiyamé though, nothing could possibly scare her anymore. Not even death. Keith started the "Rite of Passage" process, which basically was him scaring the shit out of any trainee who didn't know what the wrath of Titans was like.

Naiyamé scanned all of the cadets in front her. She picked the ones she knew he would put through the "Right of Passage" process. But also spotted the ones that wouldn't go through the process. She knew for a fact she wasn't. The ones she picked that weren't going to go through the process all bore the same look in their eyes as the one she bore, coldness. And sure enough she was correct in her predictions in the ones Keith would put the process.

Keith's first victim to go through the process was this short blond kid who Naiyamé actually confused to be a girl for a second.

"You there!" Keith shouted at the boy. He put his fist over his hear in the military salute.

"Yessir!" The boy loudly responded back.

"Who the hell are you?" Keith shouted back.

"I'm Armin Arlert, sir! I'm from Shinganshina, Sir!"

"Sure you are! Good name for a retard. Your parents call you that?"

"My grandfather, Sir!"

"Alert! Why are you here?" Keith shouted right in his face.

"To contribute to Mankind's victory, Sir!"

"Fucking _splendid_! You'll make fine Titan food!" This kid looked like he was gonna piss his pants any second Naiyamé thought.

"Line three! About turn!" Keith shouted as he rotated Armin to face the opposite direction.

Keith's next victim was a tall blond guy. Unlike Armin, Naiyamé was able to tell his gender at first glance.

"And who the hell are you?"

"I'm Thomas Wagner, Sir! I'm from Trost, Sir!"

"Speak up!" Kieth's shouting made Thomas flinch

"I'm Thomas Wagner, Si-" Thomas was quickly cut off by Keith

"Can't hear you! Come back after your balls drop!"

"Yessir!" Thomas responded back, sweat trailing down his face.

After making a girl with pigtails shout out loud that she was worse than pig shit and a tall guy with black hair say that his body was worthless to humanity, Keith moved on to his next victim. But this soldier's name caught Naiyamé's attention.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Jean Kirschtein, Sir! I'm from Shiganshina, Sir!"

Naiyamé's eyes went wide.


	8. A Slice from Heaven

_"Who the hell are you?"_

_"I'm Jean Kirschtein, Sir! I'm from Shiganshina, Sir!"_

_Naiyamé's eyes went wide._

* * *

"Jean?..." Naiyamé silently worded his started turning her head, frantically searching, eyes scanning every face to for this soldier. Her heart was racing. She hadn't heard that name in years.

"Why are you here?" The instructor continued in his "Right of Passage" process.

"To join the Military Police and live in the Interior, Sir." Naiyamé saw the drill instructor towering over a young soldier. It was Jean. Naiyamé's lips slightly parted from shock. She spent so many nights repressing her happy memories she made with Jean because she thought he was dead. But here he was, only a few meters away from her, breathing and alive.

"Oh? So you wanna live in the Interior?" Keith asked with just too much innocence in his tone.

"Yessir!" Jean responded back optimistically. Jean stood there quietly, drops of sweat rolling down his face, waiting for the instructor to respond. And he did, but not with words.  
In a flash, Keith banged his head against Jean's. Hard. Hard enough to make him kneel to the ground and grab his head in pain.

"You taking a shit down there? You think you can join the Military Police if you can't even take that?!"

Naiyamé resisted the urge to laugh. She couldn't even believe that she felt like she wanted to laugh. What was this feeling? It wasn't sadness or anger. She couldn't identify it. But now was not the time to start giggling. Jean was never afraid to speak the truth, not to anyone. And the big red mark she saw on his forehead when he stood up again proved it. She would've hoped that he would've responded to the head instructor's question better but at least he was still the same Jean; blunt and cocky.

Naiymé started to inspect Jean more. He was only 12 like her but he looked like her was 14. He was taller and a little more muscular. Which she assumed he got from working in the fields and pulling around the heavy carts, just like she did. His hair was still in the same style as when she last saw him; shaved all around the sides, but spiky and unshaven at the top. Naiyamé thought it always looked goofy on him as a kid but now it suited him more. But something quickly snapped her out of looking at Jean. She heard another familiar name.

"And who the hell are you? Why are you here?" Keith asked in the same hostile tone as before.  
Naiyamé turned her head to see Keith towering again over a young soldier who had a friendly smile accompanied by little freckles which just made the young soldier look even more goofy.

"Marco.." Naiyamé silently whispered. She knew that smile and those freckles anywhere

"I'm Marco Bodt, Sir! I from the Shiganshina District of Wall Maria, Sir! I came here to join the Military Police and offer up my body to the King!" Marco replied with that goofy smile. Marco was still the same like Jean for all these years. He was still smiling away.

"Oh. What a patriot. You've got the right idea. But y'know..." Keith started to lean in closer Marco and whispered something to him that made that smile drop off his face but he quickly composed himself. He turned his head to Jean when Keith wasn't looking and flashed him a quick smile.

_"What is...this...feeling...that I have?"_ Naiyamé wondered. She couldn't understand it but it made her feel good. She could her heart beating. It was calm. So calm. It was like a feeling tranquility was flowing through her body, cleansing her of all of her pain, all of her sadness, all of her anger. Naiyamé stood there for what seemed like hours, trying to understand what this feeling was. And as she did, the memories of her, Marco, and Jean together started to slowly crawl up the deep dark place she locked them away in.

"Oh..I see now...its..its...happiness..." Naiyamé internally said to herself. She recognized the feeling now. She remembered it perfectly. Its been so long since she had this feeling. She forgot what it was like, to be happy. Not everything was taken away from her like she thought it was. She still had a little slice from Heaven left. She still had something from her home that survived. She still had Marco and Jean.

But this wasn't the time for feelings and giggles. Right now, she had to put the cold face on again. The same one she had before she heard Marco's and Jean's names. After a few more soldiers were insulted and dehumanized, Keith slowly walked up to Naiyamé. He scanned her face to see if she had already gone through the "Rite of Passage." And he saw in her eyes that she did so he continued walking.

After Keith had inspected every trainee, the "Rite of Passage." process was completed. All trainees we're assigned cabins that they would share with other trainees. A different instructor handed her a piece of paper with the cabin number on it. Naiyamé grabbed her belongings and head toward cabin no. 22F.

She scanned the crowd in front of her for Marco and Jean but there were too many people to see them. She was really eager to talk to them but she knew eventually she would see them soon so she continued walking forward toward her assigned cabin. The numbers in the crowd were disappearing but she still didn't see Marco and Jean. She realize she got assigned the last cabin on the left (which will make it troublesome when she has to get up early for her training) but she continued walking on.

As Naiyamé moved closer and closer to her cabin, she saw two figures standing in front of the cabin. She couldn't make out who they were but they looked familiar. She moved closer and closer to see who they were until she finally made out who they were. She stopped walking and dropped her bag. The two trainees stared at her in shock too. It was Marco and Jean.


	9. Only Human

_As Naiyamé moved closer and closer to her cabin, she saw two figures standing in front of the cabin. She couldn't make out who they were but they looked familiar. She moved closer and closer to see who they were until she finally made out who they were. She stopped walking and dropped her bag. The two trainees stared at her in shock too. It was Marco and Jean._

* * *

She stared at Marco and Jean for the longest time before she saw Marco's shocked face, transition into his big goofy smile. Jean didn't change his expression at all though. Marco started to wave his hand and call out her name. Jean on the other hand, jumped over the rail and started racing towards Naiyamé as fast as he could. As Jean was getting closer and closer to her, Naiyamé spread her arms wide.

Jean slammed into her at full speed, squeezing her like a snake. The force of their collision caused them to stumble and kneel to the ground holding eachother. Naiyamé couldn't say any words. She was just speechless. Jean held on to her so tight. So tight it making it a little hard for Naiyamé to breathe but she didn't care.

"I-is th-this r-real?.." Jean couldn't even talk properly he was so shocked. He thought she died on That Day. He thought he lost her.

Naiyamé couldn't even describe the sensations and feelings that were flowing through her. It was overwhelming. She couldn't believe that she was able to hold Jean like this. After so many nights dreaming about what his death may have looked like, she discovers those bightmares were only teasing her mind. She wrapped her arms tight around Jean and squeezed him against her hard.

"I thought that..." She was so choked up it was making it impossible for her to talk. She took a big gulp and finished her sentence. Her heart was beating faster than the time it did on That Day.

"I thought...that...I thought that you and Marco were gone!" Naiyamé screamed out. She could feel tears building up in her eyes. But there was no drill sergeant watching her this time. She didn't have to hide her emotions this time. She could be human. Because no matter how numb or cold she was, she still had all those emotions that every human had. she was still only human. She let all of her tears and years of pent up feelings pour out of her and she cried loudly.

Jean had never seen Naiyamé cry. Ever. He didn't know what she been through. But he knew it must've been Hell if it was enough to make her start crying. All Jean wanted to do was be there for her. He stroked her hair and back when Marco finally decided to run up to them. He looked as shocked as Jean did to see Naiyamé crying before he got on his knees and wrapped his arms around Naiyamé as well.

Naiyamé was overwhelmed. She couldn't breathe. She didn't know how to deal with these feeling and this release. It was too much. All those years of suppressing everything inside took a toll on her and she couldn't handle it. After she stopped crying loudly (which caused the other trainees in nearby cabins to come out and investigating what was happening), Naiyamé passed out in Marco's and Jean's arms.

Marco and Jean got scared that she passed out and quickly decided to take her to the infirmary. Jean held the unconscious Naiyamé in his arms while Marco led the way, with a few curious trainees trailing behind them.

Jean and Marco waited outside of the infirmary for a few minutes, waiting for word on their precious friend. A nurse came out calmly with a smile on her face. Jean quickly walked towards the nurse.

"Is she alright? Is she gonna be okay?" Jean bombarded at the nurse.

"Shes just fine. I think she was just so overwhelmed with seeing you guys that she passed out. Thats happened here a couple of times before actually. Some soldiers run into old friends they thought that died, and they just become so overwhelmed, they pass out. Shes likely gonna be out cold for the rest of the night but you can go visit her if you wa-" Jean didn't let the nurse finish her sentence as he barged right pass her to get to Naiyamé who was fast asleep on a bed.

Marco quickly followed him after apologizing to the nurse for his friend's rudeness. He found Jean kneeling beside Naiyamé's bed, holding her hand.

"She must've gone through some pretty rough things to have passed out like that." Marco said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder

"Her heart was beating so fast, I thought it was gonna explode." Jean replied back.

"Well, its getting late and we should get some sleep. We gotta get up early tomorrow." Marco said gently pulling back his friend's shoulder a little. But he wouldn't budge. Marco sighed and knelt down to Jean.

"Jean." Marco said firmly but gently.

"I know your concerned for her, so am I. But she'll be fine. Shes not going anywhere. We're not going anywhere either. She staying in the same cabin with us. We'll see her tomorrow and the day after that. and the day after that. But right now, we need to get some sleep as well."

"...Alright..." Was all Jean said. He stood up with Marco, looked at Naiyamé's peaceful, sleeping face one last time, and reluctantly let go of her hand.


	10. Same old, Same Old

_The next day after the trainees picked their cabins and got settled in, it was time for the young soldiers to begin their hard training for the next 3 years. Naiyamé woke up 10 minutes earlier than everyone else did and started to change into her uniform, getting ready for the tough day she had ahead of her. She was about to walk out of the infirmary until the nurse that cared for her yesterday stopped her._

* * *

"Excuse me miss, but do you think you should leave? I don't want you keeling over while out running."

"Thank you but I feel fine now. I don't want to fall behind like the other cadets and I've been looking forward to this day for a long time now." Naiyamé replied back with a slight smile as she left.

The trainees lined up in a few rows in front of instructor Keith, who still bore the death glare against the cadets.

"Listen up you useless shits. Today is your first day of training. Now you all likely have the muscle of a granny so I'm gonna toughen you up. This day will determine if your too much of a pussy to stay here or not. I want all of you to do five laps around the perimeter of the training grounds. If you can't do that then your not fit to fight the Titans. Now get your asses in gear and get running!" Keith shouted at all the cadets. All of the cadets made their salute and immediately began their running.

The sun was hot and the air was dry. Naiyamé felt like her feet were on fire from the hotness of the ground, it hurt. She was near the front of the pact, only a few other people ahead of her with Jean and Marco staying close behind her. By the time she was on her final lap, she was exhausted and so was everyone else but she wasn't gonna give up. She knew the hard training ahead had only begun and if she couldn't get through this, then she could never fight the Titans.

Naiyamé kept running, only looking forward, and unfortunately did not see the rock closing in on her path. She stubbed her toe hard against and let out a grunt of pain which made her fall back to Jean and Marco's pace. Her foot throbbed in pain

"Whats the matter? Stub your toe there?" Jean asked with a grin on his face.

"Oh shut up Jean. You would be all the way at the back if you ran into that rock." Naiyamé returned with a similar grin on his face.

"Tch. I'm not the little kid you would beat at arm wrestling anymore Naiyamé. I could beat you at anything any day." Jean lashed back. He always hated when Naiyamé would tease him. But Naiyamé enjoyed pushing his buttons.

"Well if you think your such a big tough guy, then try to beat me." Naiyamé said as she kicked into full gear and started running faster, leaving Jean and Marco behind her.

Jean squinted his eyebrows and gritted his teeth. Refusing to let Naiyamé win so easily. He soon started to go faster and faster and caught up to Naiyamé

"You can't win against me so easily." He shouted next to her. Naiyamé frowned at him and pushed herself even more. Going even faster than she was before, passing Jean once again. Now she was in front of everyone else. Putting all the effort she had into the new speed she was maintaining.

Jean was getting mad. She was really pushing him and testing him. Jean pushed himself as hard as he could and started to slowly catch up Naiyamé, leaving everyone else far behind them who were having a hard time just keeping up the pace they were going that. Both of them were breathing hard, the constant beat of their boots hitting against the hard ground helped Naiyamé concentrate.

Naiyamé looked over to Jean and saw he was struggling to catch his breath. He was at his limit but so was she. But this race reminded Naiyamé of when they were kids and the competitions they held against each other which made her grin at the thought. And like in all the competitions they held back then, Naiyamé knew the outcome of this one. She was going to win. They were only a few meters away from the finish line but Naiyamé dug deep and a explosion of adrenaline rushed through her body as she moved herself to go even faster than ever.

She went ahead of Jean who looked at her explosion of speed in astonishment.

"Faster. Faster. Faster." Naiyamé quietly repeated to herself as she got closer and closer to end. Her legs were on fire. They felt like they could give out an any moment but she wasn't finished yet. She saw the finish line and rushed past it at an amazing speed. Keith looked at Naiyamé from afar, with a slight grin on his face. He knew she was going to become a great soldier some day.

As soon as Naiyamé past the finish line, she slowed her pace down to a stop and bent over slightly, gripping on to her knees. It felt so impossible to breathe to her. She felt her heart beating so fast. She heard a slowed foot pace approaching her and knew it was Jean. She looked up to see Jean who looked like he was ready to keel over passing the finish line.

"So...What was that about beating me at anything?" Naiyamé said with a large satisfied grin on her face.

"Whatever...You...You over-achiever...I'm going...to the showers." Jean lashed back, trying to catch his breath in-between words. Even though Naiyamé knew how much Jean hated to lose to her. She couldn't help but smile at how little Jean had changed since she last saw him. She was happy to see that he was still the same old cocky Jean.


	11. Ends Meet

_After the three old friends completed their training for the day, night had fallen and the trio along with all the other sore and hungry cadets went to the cafeteria to have their dinner. Naiyamé, Jean, and Marco all caught up with each other about what happened to them after That Day since they didn't get a chance earlier to catch up with each other._

* * *

Maro and Jean told Naiyamé that they were able to flee safely away from the Titans along with their families. But they quickly lost both of their parents after the Central Government launched the program to try to reclaim Wall Maria when it was secretly a way to lessen the food shortage. After Jean and Marco told their stories, Naiyame told her's as well.

Naiyamé then explained her story and experience while Marco and Jean quietly listened with looks of pity and horror on their face. Naiyamé always hated the look of pity people would sometimes give her. She didn't want people to feel to sorry for her. She felt weak whenever someone took pity on her. After she finished her story, silence fell upon the trio until Marco broke the silence.

"So you said you were joining the Scouting Legion right? What happened to all of us wanting to be in the Military Police?" Marco asked with sadness in his voice.

"I've changed my mind. Those things killed the my last little bit of family I had left. I want revenge. I want to exterminate all of the Titans in this cruel world. Even if I die, this what I want to do. I'm not afraid of death or the Titans." Naiyamé responded bitterly with nothing but coldness and passion burning in her voice.

Marco and Jean stared at Naiyamé in shock. But before they could even say anything, they were interrupted by someone else.

"Huh, so your just like me. You have a bloodthirst to kill Titans as well." The trio turned their head to who joined into their conversation. It was a young soldier, just around their age as well. He had short spiky dark brown hair and piercing teal eyes.

"This is none of your business Eren, stay out of it. Besides, the Scouting Legion is stupid anyway. Your just serving yourself on a silver platter to the Titans if you join them." Jean retorted towards the boy. Eren got angered by Jean's retort and was about to say something back until Naiyamé beat him to it.

"Jean, if I don't join the Scouting Legion and fight against the Titans, then all of those who've died for the sake of humanity will have died in vain. I am a soldier and I will fight for Humanity. At least I'm not being a coward like you and am running away from the Titans." She added an extra cold tone to the last sentence.

Jean's expression changed from shock to anger as he gritted his teeth and furrowed his eyebrows. He slammed his drink down on the table, which made Marco and Naiyamé flinch, and sat up and walked outside. Naiyamé sighed as he walked out of the door. Knowing she pushed his buttons too hard this time.

Marco noticed Naiyamé's sad expression and put his hand on her shoulder and comforted her.

"Don't worry, hes just blowing off some steam. Hes more hotheaded today since you kicked his butt like always." He finished his sentence with that goofy smile of his that always cheered Naiyamé up.


	12. Reflection

_After the incident between Niayamé and Jean in the cafeteria, Jean went back to their cabin and went to bed. Naiyamé and Marco soon returned as well and Marco fell asleep quickly as well. But Naiyamé was wide awake._

* * *

She never slept well. She was always afraid to fall asleep. She was afraid of having that same nightmare she had every night. She decided laying in bed thinking about it wasn't gonna help her so she quietly climbed down her bunk and snuck out of the cabin.  
She walked to a lone old tree and climbed it to sit on the branch and just stared at the moon. Thinking about her whole life, her goal, everything. The light from the full moon glazed Naiyamé's porcelain skin as her auburn hair slowly swayed with the quiet breeze and the sound of the leaves rustling in the wind made the night all the more peaceful.

"Can't sleep either huh?" The sound almost made her fall off the branch. She quickly searched the ground to see who was talking to her but saw no one.

"Over here." The voice called out. Naiyamé turned to her right to see Eren sitting on a branch that was just a little higher than the one she was on. She was so skilled at observing everything around her and she hadn't even noticed Eren was in the tree as well, it shocked her.

"I just had a nightmare was all." Naiyamé said quietly back to Eren, reflecting upon the memory of watching helplessly as her mother was being eaten in front of her.

"Your from the Shiganshina district right?" Eren asked calmly.

"Yeah. I lived right next to the outer wall." Naiyamé responded.

"I'm from Shiganshina too. I can understand why you are the way you are. We both have the same nightmares, the same bloodfirst to kill those monsters."

"Did you lose someone precious on That Day?" Naiyamé asked, hoping it wouldn't upset Eren.

"Yeah...My mom. She was killed by a Titan. The fucker bit her in half right in front of me. She was stuck in the rubble of our house and I tried to save her but a soldier dragged me away from her." Eren responded with a slight tone of sadness. Eren was right. He understood her pain. He understood it so well because he went through the exact same hell she went through. He was like a reflection of herself.

"I'm really sorry you had to go through that Eren. I lost my mom to a Titan too." Naiyamé replied, fighting back tears at the memory of her mother being eaten limb by limb, gripping onto the tree branch even harder than before.

"We both lost our families, our homes, our way of living. All we have left for us to live on is our will to exterminate the Titans. People may think we're crazy for wanting to join the Scouting Legion. But most of the people here haven't even actually seen a Titan. They just want to run away from them. But you and I are different. We're not afraid to die." Eren replied back.

Naiyamé remained quiet to Eren's deep words. She understood every word he meant. There were no replies back needed for Eren to know that she understood him. After a minutes of no talking, Eren broke the silence.  
"Its getting late. I should try to get some sleep. Goodnight Naiyamé. Goodluck with training tomorrow." Were the last things Eren said before he jumped down from the branch, landing gracefully on the ground and started walking back to his cabin. Naiyamé didn't wish him goodnight or say any words. She didn't want to talk.


	13. I Wish I was the Moon

A few minutes after Eren walked back to his cabin, Naiyamé went back to absorbing the stillness of the night until she heard footsteps behind her. She was swiftly turned around, afraid that it would be Keith that had come to punish her for being out of her cabin after curfew. She scanned the face as it was hard to see in the dark but relaxed when she saw it was Jean.

"What are you doing out here? Its the middle of the night." Jean casually said.

"I couldn't sleep and I wanted some fresh air. Plus Marco's snoring wasn't helping me either." Jean chuckled at the last part of Naiyamé's response. Naiyamé felt the tree shake slightly as Jean made his way up to the branch Naiyaamé was sitting on. They sat there silently for awhile while watching the moon. Naiyamé felt uneasy. It wasn't like Jean to be silent like this but he was the first to break the silence.

"Listen, I wanted to apologize for-"

"You don't need to-"

"Hear me out okay? I wanted to apologize for what I said back in the cafeteria." Naiyame turned her head to face his to hear what he wanted to say.

"It was wrong for me to speak so low of the Survey Corps. They do alot for humanity, more than any of the other military branches do. I understand why you hate the Titans so much and want to kill them but...Didn't we all promise that we were going to join the Military Police?" Jean said in a bit of sadness.

Naiyamé was trying to come up with a nice response back but she couldn't find any gentle words so she replied back honestly.

"That was when we we're still naive kids Jean. That was back in the good ol' days. But those days are gone now, they're just memories. I'm sorry but I can't keep my promise after what they...those..monsters did to my mother." Jean was angered by her response. Why couldn't she see how much he was afraid to lose her?

"You'll die Naiyamé! Why is it so hard for you to see that?!" Jean shouted at her.

"I could die. Chances are I will but...I'm not afraid to die. I wouldn't be leaving anything behind if I did."

"Idiot! Its all worthless if you die! You don't get second chances in this world."

"Its my reason for living Jean! You've never even seen how the Titans eat the people you love the most like they're a simple snack."

"Which is why I'm being smart and joining the Militay Po-"

"Just shut up Jean! If you don't like what I'm doing with my life then just stay out of it" Naiyamé replied with a cold tone.  
Jean stared at her response in shock, but his anger quickly started to flow through his body. He grunted his teeth and furrowed his eyebrows, just like he did the cafeteria and jumped off the branch.

"Fine! Go ahead and just throw away your life! See if I care!" Jean screamed at her before punching the side of the tree hard enough for it to shake a little before he started to walk back to the cabin.  
Naiyamé let a sigh as she sat on the branch for a bit longer before jumping off.

"Hey! Who's out over there? What are doing out after curfew? If your not back in your cabin by the time I get over there, I'll shove my foot so far up your sorry ass you'll have toes for a tongue!" Naiyamé knew that angry strict tone anywhere. She quickly darted back to the cabin before Keith saw her and went to bed.


	14. Maturing

_Note: All of the characters in this story are now at the age they are in the time skip (Naiyame 15, Jean 15, Marco 16, etc). Enjoy!  
_

* * *

_2 Years after enlisting, Year 850_

Naiyamé and Jean stopped talking to each other after that late-night argument tried to avoid each other as much as they could. Whenever they saw each other in their cabin, they would stare at each other before frowning and turning away. Naiyamé didn't sit with Jean and Marco at the cafeteria anymore and instead sat with Eren and his adoptive sister Mikasa. Whenever they were in class, Naiyamé would always catch Jean looking at her from afar. They never spoke to each other. Their only communication they had towards each other was just exchanging angered glances.

The young trainees had gone through three hard years of training to get where they were now. But they were no longer the weak, naive trainees that couldn't survive a few laps around the training camp. They were strong, and they knew how to fight.

Naiyamé matured into a beautiful but deadly Titan-killer. Her figure had become more womanly, her skin seemed to glow, and her lovely auburn hair was put up in a bun whenever she had to training to do. After she completed her training, she would let her hair fall down to her chest. All the boys in on the training grounds would turn their heads to look at her. Jean and Marco matured as well. They were taller and muscular from all the hard training they went through. And more handsome as well.

In a week, they were going to graduate and become real soldiers. Tomorrow the matured trainees had their final test before graduation. But for today, they had their last assigned laps around the training grounds. And with the three years of muscle-building and exercising they had done, running the laps no longer caused the trainees to wheeze and gasp for breath. By this point, running those laps was just a simple chore to them.

After having completed their last laps and class ever with the sun setting, Naiyamé went back to the cabin instead of going to the cafeteria like everyone else. She was still in her soldier uniform, which was covered in dirt and sweat from all the running she did. She didn't want to be in her dirtied clothing so she decided to change out of it into her usual wear which was a grey short-sleeved buttoned-up shirt with a knee-length navy skirt that she always wore black shorts underneath. As she would never wear any skirt or dress without having the insurance of shorts underneath.

Naiyamé removed her jacket and her separate white polo she always wore underneath it as well as her pants and boots and started changing. She had changed into her shorts and was in her breast bindings when she heard someone open the door.

She brought her shirt close to her chest and turned around, panicked, to see Jean standing there, lips slightly parted. They stood there for a few seconds looking at eachother before they realized what they were both doing. Jean quickly turned around as Naiyamé gasped at how exposed she was to Jean, blush burning in both of their cheeks.

"I'm sorry Naiyamé! I just came back to-"

"Get out Jean!" Naiyamé yelled at Jean. Jean frantically and quickly dashed out of the cabin and made his way back to the cafeteria. He sat down quietly in front of Marco. Marco lifted his head up from his dish and looked at Jean, noticing the blush still burning his cheeks.

"Whats wrong Jean? Your face is as red as Keith's when hes mad." Marco said with curiosity. Jean put his hand on his cheek and quickly turned his head to the side. Avoiding eye contact with Marco.

"No-nothing. Nothing at all." Jean replied back quickly.

"Then why are you stuttering? C'mon you know I won't tell anyone. Spill it." Marco replied back

Jean sighed and looked around to make sure no one was too close in hearing range for what he was about to say and leaned in a little closer to Marco.

"I walked into the cabin while Naiyamé was changing." Jean said as quietly as he could. Marco's eyes widened a little and was about to say something until Jean beat him to it.

"It was an accident though! I didn't know she was in there. I thought she went to the showers or something."

"Well, all I can really say is accidents happen." Marco replied back calmly.

Jean sat back in his chair, looking down at the floor and sighed, the blush on his cheeks now starting to faint. Marco stared at him intently for a few seconds before blurting something that caught Jean off guard.

"You like her don't you?" Marco said with a slight smile. Jean swiftly brought his head up and looked at Marco, eyes widened and lips parted, the blush starting to come back to his face.

"What are you talking about? I don't like her!" Jean retorted back.

"Jean. I know you like her. You've always liked her ever since we were little kids. Its easy to see shes a beautiful girl to say the least." Jean was about to argue against that but decided to remain silent and turned his head to the side, avoiding eye contact.

"Look. I know you two have barely spoken a word to each other since that silly late-night argument you had but you have to get over it. I don't want Naiyamé to join the Scouting Legion either but there isn't anything on this planet that can change that girl's mind. And you know how low the survival rate is in the Scouting Legion. So you should tell her how you feel now if anything ever happens to her." Jean turned his head toward Marco and looked at him for a few seconds before getting up to grab his meal, thinking intently about Marco's words.

* * *

Ohhh snap, whats Jean gonna do now? Thanks so much to everyone who has favorited, reviewed, and followed this story. It means alot to me. Things are gonna get really, really heated in the chapters to come so I hope all of you are enjoying this story. Reviews are much, much appreciated. Thanks again. :)


	15. Moving Forward

_Today was the day. It was the final test for the trainees before coming young soldiers. Their final test was a race to who could get to the other side of the forest the fastest. Whoever crossed the finish line first would get an extra 5 points added to their score before the final results would be tallied up. 5 points may not have seemed like much to most people but it was worth a 100 laps to the soldiers. Those last 5 points could either make or break getting one of the top 10 scores._

* * *

The soldiers lined up at the edge of the forest. Jean was only a few feet away from Nayaimé. He saw the look of determination in her eyes. Those same eyes that desired to kill the Titans. Those same eyes that used to be so filled with joy. He could look into her eyes forever. Naiyamé felt Jean's eyes on her which made her feel uncomfortable. She moved her eyes to the left to meet Jean's eye but Jean quickly turned his eyes forward to avoid her gaze and Naiyamé did the same.

Keith stood behind the soldiers with a shotgun to off to start the race. He raised it high into the air and covered his ear.

"Soldiers, are you ready?" He shouted.

"Yes, Sir!" All of the young soldiers shouted in perfect sync.

"Alright! On your mark...get set..." Keith pulled the trigger and the loud bang for the shotgun went off. All at once, the soldiers swarmed into the forest, eager to be the first one to finish. Naiyamé was tied with Eren in first place and had perfect control of her 3DMG. Jean however, was only a few feet behind her, doing his best to catch up.

Naiyamé knew exactly how much gas she need to use and how much distance she could cover in one boost. She knew instinctively which tree to pick to shoot the sharp rods into. She felt so free and in control. She turned to Eren who had looked back at her and flashed a smile which she greeted back with her own smile. She thought Eren had such a nice smile. It was almost as nice as Marco's smile was.

She wished Eren would've smiled a bit more. Jean saw both of them smiling at each other which made him grit his teeth in anger. He always hated seeing Naiyamé getting along so well with Eren. Jean started to wonder, why couldn't he get along with her so nicely like Eren or Marco did? They always had to fight. The thought angered Jean even more as he became more determined to catch up with Naiyamé and Eren.

Naiyamé always beat Jean at everything. Jean always envied that she always better than him at everything. But this wasn't a little kid's contest. This was much more serious, which made Jean even more serious and determined to win this race. He wouldn't let her win no matter what. He caught up to Naiyamé and Eren quickly.

Naiyamé looked to see that Jean had that same look in his eyes he had as a kid whenever they had their competitions against eachother. He had the look of pure determination that Naiyamé had seen in Eren's eyes. He was gonna win even if it killed him and she knew that so she quickly pushed herself to go faster, which only caused Jean to do the same. Eren tried to keep up with both of them but fell a few feet behind.

Naiyamé couldn't even tell how fast she was going. She and Jean were so far ahead against the other soldiers. She turned behind to see a faint figure in the distance which she knew was Eren who was trying his best to catch up with her and Jean. They were close to the end of the forest and Naiyamé grew a grin on her face as she knew she would cross the finish line before him.


	16. Falling Fast

Naiyamé shot her rods out to the trees she believed suited the best. As she was swinging forward, she staggered, something was wrong. The rods didn't release from the trees like they were supposed and because of the speed she was going it, she met the resistance of the rods hard. Too hard. She heard something snap and began to feel the wind blowing her hair up. The wires had snapped and she was falling from a grave height She tried to shoot her rods out or grab onto a nearby branch but it was futile.

Jean saw her stagger which he knew was not right considering how fast and graceful she was in using the 3DMG until he heard a snap and saw her falling. That was when his heart stopped. He swiftly adjusted to where he was shooting his rods so he could angle himself down and dove down to Naiyamé as fast as his gear could allow him. He heard her scream in sheer horror as he imagined her using the same scream while in the grasp of a Titan's hand. It made him sick to his stomach.

"Naiyamé!" Was all Jean could scream as he was diving towards her.

Naiyamé saw the ground meeting her very quickly and closed her eyes to accept her fate until she didn't feel the impact of the ground beneath her. Instead she felt something yank at her. She opened her eyes to see that Eren had grabbed her and was pulling her onto his back. She wrapped her arms and legs around Eren and held on tight. She watched Eren turn his head to the side, covered in sweat, but with a big grin.

"You can't die yet Naiyamé. Remember we both promised to join the Survey Corps, and were gonna do it." Eren said with a grin. Naiyamé's blank expression quickly turned into a smile.

"Right!" Naiaymé replied optimistically.

"Now hold on tight 'cause we're gonna win this." And with his reply, Eren shot his rods out as far as they would go and released a huge amount of gas from his 3DMG that sent him and Naiyamé flying forward at an incredible speed, leaving Jean far behind.

Jean couldn't help but smile slightly. He hated Eren so much but because of him, Naiyamé was alive. But his slight smile changed into a frown as he realized at how worthless he was. If Eren wasn't there, Naiyamé would have died. The image of Naiyamé falling to her death made his stomach drop. He felt so useless.

Eren and Naiyamé burst through the forest's clearing, both smiling as Eren landed a bit clumsily thanks to extra weight he wasn't used to carrying. Jean passed through the finish a few seconds later, followed by all the other trainees.

Naiyamé climbed down from Eren and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Thank you. Eren." Eren was a bit stunned by her affection but returned the hug back. They pulled away from each other smiling. As they pulled out of the hug, Naiyamé heard someone walking up slowly and closely behind her.

"Naiyame." Naiyamé turned around and was swiftly pulled into a hug which made her tense a little. Far tighter and stronger than the one she had just given. She felt the arms around her shaking. She turned her head a little to see it was Jean.

"Don't...ever...do that again. Don't die." Jean said, sounding like he was struggling to breathe. Naiyamé was stunned by Jean's affection but she slowly relaxed and a smile grew on her face. She wrapped one of her arms around Jean while the other cupped the back of his head.

"I won't." Was all she said as she stayed in his tight hug. When she saw Keith in front of her starting to walk closer to her, she pulled away from the hug and Jean reluctantly let her go. Keith looked at her for a few seconds before turning his gaze towards Eren

"Congratulations Jaeger. Not only did you set a record time of how fast you completed this race. But you saved your comrade as well." Eren smiled and gave the military salute back. Keith turned his attention back towards Naiyamé.

"Takahashi. I am sorry that your gear malfunctioned and you almost died. As the good and skilled soldier you are, I trust that you checked your gear before the race and that it was functioning fine. I will have your gear doubled-checked to see what caused the malfunction in your 3DMG." Naiyamé gave the military salute.  
"Thank you, Sir." Naiyamé said with gratitude.

Keith and the other trainees started to head back to the usual training grounds. Marco ran up to Naiyamé to pull her into yet another hug and thanked Eren for saving her before running off to catch up with the other trainees.

"See you tomorrow at graduation, Naiyamé." Eren said to her with a smile before walking away.

"Yeah. See ya." Naiyamé replied with a wave and a smile back.

She turned her attention towards Jean who was standing next to her with a look of concern on his face.

"I thought you were gonna die. I'm so sorry Naiyamé. I'm not strong and if Eren hadn't been there then-"

"Jean." Naiyamé interrupted him and rested her hand on his soldier.

"No worries, its not your fault. I'm not going anywhere, okay?" She said with a assuring smile. Jean was about to say something until Naiyamé beat him to it.

"Hey, last one to the cafeteria has to do 3 laps" Naiyamé said before she winked and started running off towards the other soldiers. Jean didn't start running, instead, her just looked at her from afar. Ever so thankful that she was alive.

"Don't die on me, Naiyamé." Jean said quietly to himself before he started walking forward.


	17. The Night Before

_All their tests and training came down to this night. Graduation. The results were in with the top 10 scores. Only the people with the top 10 scores would be able to join the Military Police. Except in this rare case, 11 people would be able to choose to join the Military Police. Naiyamé Takahashi and Eren Jaeger tied with the exact same score._

* * *

This was not the first time this actually occurred but it was still an extremely rare thing that happened. Mikasa got the highest score of course. She was the gifted at everything she did. It didn't bother Naiyamé or Eren at all though. They did their best and they wanted to join the Scouting Legion anyways, so having one of the highest scores didn't matter to either of them.

It was night time and all of the new soldiers lined up before Keith. With the top 10 graduates, well, rather 11 graduates forming a line in front all of their comrades. Naiyamé and Eren tied in at 5th place, beating Jean who the 6th highest score. Naiyamé couldn't help but grin at the thought she had beat Jean once again. She moved her eyes to the left to see Jean glaring at Eren before turning her gaze back to Keith again.

"Hands upon your hearts!"

"Yes, sir!" Everyone said symbiotically and made the salute

"For you trainees graduating today, three paths now open before you. You can be stationed at the walls and defend the cities as members of the Garrison! You can put your lives on the line to the Titans in their own territory as members of the Recon Corps! And you can serve the King by controlling the crowds and protecting order as members of the Military Police Brigade! Of course, only the ten people with the top scores we announced earlier are allowed into the Military Police! But in this rare case, theres 11 of you thanks to Naiyamé Takahashi and Eren Jaeger who's scores were exactly tied for 5th place." One of Keith's instructors announced to the graduates.

Naiyamé was celebrating with Marco and Eren while Jean strayed away to a table to drink away his anger.

"Damn that Eren." Was all he said before he grunted and took his glass to his mouth again.

Truth be told, he wasn't really mad at Eren, but he was mad at himself. He couldn't be as great as Naiyamé or Eren. Even after all these years, he couldn't beat Naiyamé. But he knew as strong as Naiyamé was, she wasn't invincible. He knew that from watching her almost die. His hand was only a few feet away from grabbing her but he knew he wasn't gonna be able to reach her in time.

"But you can't possibly win!" Jean turned his head to see who raised his voice to see it was Thomas, one of the graduates. He didn't score in the top 10 but nevertheless he was still a good soldier. He was talking to Eren but after he saw everyone had turned his head, he quieted his voice and continued to speak.

"You know full well...You know just how many have been eaten by them. We've lost more than twenty percent of the population already. Mankind doesn't stand a chance against them..." Thomas then dropped his head in despair.

"So?" Was all Eren replied back which caused Thomas to cock his head up.

"You're just giving up because you think you can't win?" Eren questioned Thomas

"Well-" Thomas replied back but was quickly cut off by Eren

"Its true. We've suffered only defeat so far. That's because we knew hardly anything about them! We can't defeat them using sheer numbers. We may have lost, but the knowledge we obtained from those battles is guiding beacon of hope. Yet you'd discard the tactical progress bought by hundreds of thousands of sacrifices, just to serve yourself up on a silver platter? You've gotta be kidding me. I'll kill every last one of them and break free of these walls! That is my dream! Mankind hasn't lost everything yet!" Everyone remained silent by Eren's words. Eren slightly teary, gritted his teeth and left the room with his sister and his friend Armin pursuing him.

"Go outside those walls if your so keen on it. I'm going to the Military Police." Jean replied back in his mind. He still hated Eren but he was glad that he saved Naiyamé. It just infuriated him to no end how him and Naiyamé were always so close to each other.

_"I don't want Naiyamé to join the Scouting Legion either but there isn't anything on this planet that can change that girl's mind. And you know how low the survival rate is in the Scouting Legion. So you should tell her how you feel now if anything ever happens to her."_ Marco's words echoed in Jean's mind.

"Damn't Marco, why do you always have to be right? And damn you Naiyamé. Why do you have to join the Scouting Legion and be all high and mighty?" Jean grumbled to himself. He kept knocking back his drink one sip after another.

"What are you doing all by yourself?" Naiyamé's voice made Jean jump. He looked around and realized it must have been late because the cafeteria was almost empty.

"Tsk. What do you want Naiyamé?" He retorted back to her.

"Oh c'mon Jean, whats got you in a bad mood? So what if you didn't get the highest score, you can still join the Military Police and-"

"Just shutup!" He yelled back at her. He looked at her face and saw the hurt and anger in her eyes. Naiyamé's hurt face quickly changed to one of anger.

"Whats your problem Jean!?" She yelled back at him. Jean abruptly sat up from his seat and towered over Naiyamé.

"You want to know what my problem is? Your going off to the Scouting Legion and you sound so fucking happy to be throwing your life away!" He screamed at her.

"Why do you even care Jean!? Whats wrong with you?" Naiyamé said as she walked closer and closer to Jean with nothing but anger in eyes, only a few inches away from Jean's face.

The closeness between them made Jean blush. _Too close. Too close._ He thought. Jean grabbed Naiyamé by her shoulders and made her step back a little.

"Why can't you see how futile it is to fight the Titans?" He screamed at her. Naiyame smacked his arms off her shoulders.

"I do! Thats why I'm joining! I don't want to see anymore kids have to sign up to be soldiers! I don't want people to have to fear every day whether or not they're gonna be eaten! I want to destroy the Titans! And if all your gonna do is just scream and bicker at me then you can just get out of my life." Naiyamé said coldly and started to walk away before Jean grabbed her hand.

"I can't do that." Jean said calmly, looking down on the ground, blush burning in his cheeks.

"And why is that Jean? Because I am so done with your bullshit." Naiyamé said coldly, tugging on her wrist that Jean was holding. Her tugging only caused Jean to grip at her wrist tighter and pull it a little. He hung his head low and had a faint blush on his cheeks that Naiyamé couldn't see in the dim light. Jean remained silent for a few seconds before he started to reply.

"Because...I-" Jean was cut off by Keith barging into the cafeteria.

"What the Hell is all of the yelling about? Takahashi and Kirschtein, get your asses to bed now." Jean and Naiyamé quickly responded by dashing out of the cafeteria and getting to bed just like Keith said.


	18. The Unexpected

_The trio woke up early in their cabin. They were all assigned to different squads to monitor the walls until the military branches were ready to accept the new soldiers. All the squads were led by the top 11 scoring graduates. Naiyamé's squad was assigned to Trost district. Just a little bit farther behind Eren's squad. She could see Eren's squad members on the top of Wall Rose. Jean and Marco's squads were assigned near the back of Trost. But today somehow didn't seem quite right to Naiyamé._

* * *

The sun was shinning high and bright and the birds were chirping. Children were playing in the streets, the wind calmly blew. It was so peaceful but for some reason, it made Naiyamé tense. The setting looked just like it did on That Day.

She turned around to look in the direction Marco and Jean were posted at. Something was making her sick to her stomach. She didn't know what but something didn't feel right. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a loud bang and felt the ground shake. The wind blew extremely violently, it made Naiyamé lose her balance and fall to the ground.

Naiyamé turned her head to look at the direction the violent wind blew from. She saw Eren's squad strapped onto the side of the wall. She slowly moved her eyes up higher and higher and her eyes laid on a monster. A big, big monster.

A Titan. The Colossal Titan. She never saw the Colossal Titan on That Day but she heard the descriptions about it. It made her shiver at the thought of a Titan being that big but this very Titan was before her eyes. She saw Eren fly forward and run on the wall. The huge Titan swung his arm right where Eren was running.

"Eren! Watch out!" Naiyamé screamed. She doubt Eren heard her but thankfully he jumped high and landed right on the Titan's arm. He started running closer and closer to it's head jumped off it's arm to latch his gear onto it's neck. He reeled himself forward to the Titan's neck, blades drawn, ready to kill the monster until a large amount of steam bursted from the Titan.

The steam covered Eren she couldn't see him anymore but she heard Eren yell and then in a flash, the Titan disappeared and Eren jumped out of the steam, landing on the other side of the wall. Naiyamé moved her gaze lower to see a hole. A very, very large hole in the wall. Big enough to let the Titans in. It was just like That Day again. The Titans were going to come in again.


	19. Come Back When You Can

Jean and Marco's squad were posted next to each other when they heard a loud bang and felt the ground shake. They both looked toward the outer wall to see that the Colossal Titan had appeared again.

"The wall!" Marco yelled as he pointed toward the large hole in the wall. Jean turned his attention to the hole. His eyes widened and he gasped in horror.

"Not again..." He said quietly as he lowered his head. Marco stared at Jean who was just speechless with horror on his face. He ran in front of Jean and grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him gently.

"Jean! Snap out of it! Eren and Naiyamé's squads are over there, we gotta help them!" Hearing Naiyamé's name made Jean perk his head up. He moved aside Marco and started running and was about to use his 3DMG to get there faster until someone interrupted him.

"Hey, where do you think your going? Get your squad and your ass back to headquarters trainee. Let the Garrison handle the Titans for the time being." Jean looked behind him to see a bitter man from the Garrison giving him orders.

"My comrades are posted right near the wall! I need to-" Jean was cut off by the strict man.

"Thats an order trainee! Disobey it you'll get trouble crawling up your ass." As a trainee, Jean had no choice but to accept the bitter man's orders, which made him angry as he gritted his teeth. The man ran pass Jean while Jean used his 3DMG to climb up to the top of a bell tower. He stood there silent for a few seconds, his anger was boiling high. Naiyamé was out there and the Titans were coming in.

"Damn't!" Jean shouted as punched the wall hard which made his hand bleed a little. He gritted his teeth so hard together and squinted his eyes shut before turning his head to look at the broken wall. Jean started to think of the memory of Naiyamé falling to the ground. Only this time he imagined she was falling into a Titan's mouth which made Jean shiver in horror.

"Naiyamé...Come back when you can...Please..." He slowly closed his eyes shut for a moment before he started moving back to Headquarters again.


	20. First Blood

The Titans we're coming in. Naiyamé's squad stood on top of and old building to look into the hole to see large silhouettes getting closer and closer.

_"No. I'm not gonna let someone go through what I went through. This time, I'll make a difference!"_ Naiyamé thought to herself with a look of nothing but sheer determination glazing her face. He eyes glistened with fire and passion. She gripped her blades tighter than ever.

But first thing was first. They needed to evacuate all of the civilians to safety. Naiyamé's squad was standing behind her, petrified of the situation. Seeing the look of fear and cowardice in their eyes made her angry. They were soldiers who swore their lives for the sake of Humanity. They couldn't be afraid of their enemy.

"Hey! Don't just stand there! Help evacuate the civilians to safety. I'm going on ahead to hold the Titans off as long as I can. Now hurry up!" Naiyamé shouted before she darted forward towards the giant, gaping hole. She looked up the wall to see Eren's squad being given orders by some officers from the Garrison. Naiyamé got close enough to wall to use her 3DMG.

She shot her rods out and flew on the side of the wall. Waiting for her first foolish victim to walk through the wall. She could tell they were getting close. She could feel the earth around her vibrate with the sound of their footsteps.

_Thump...Thump...Thump._ Naiyamé gripped her blades and gritted her teeth harder every time she heard the thumps become louder and louder. She started to see a shadow appear on the ground. It looked like a human shadow but it was a Titan.

"Come on you little fucker..." Naiyamé said quietly to herself.

"Naiyamé Takahashi, do not engage in combat with the Titans! Report back to HQ immediately!" She looked up to see a Garrison officer shouting at her. Naiyamé gave him a cold look and turned her attention back to the ground. No one was gonna tell her she couldn't kill a Titan. She didn't care about the consequences she faced. Finally, after watching the shadow grow, she saw the Titan.

It was a 7-meter class and it had long brown hair and a disgusting happy smile on it's face. The smile only infuriated Naiyamé. Naiyamé released her rods and shot them out on the other side of the hole, swinging her down right to the Titan.

"Naiyamé get out of there!" The officer screamed but she ignored him. She was getting closer and closer to the Titan.

It was completely oblivious to the deadly soldier swinging down to it. She was getting closer and closer to it's head and gripped onto her blades as hard she could and raised them above her hair, fire burning in her eyes.

"Die!" Naiyamé screamed as she swung her blades as hard as she could at the Titan's neck.

She had cut so deep and so hard into the Titan's neck, she almost decapitated it. The nape of it's neck came clean right off and she felt droplets of the Titan's blood land her face which made her skin sting from how hot it was but she didn't care.

She swung forward and landed on the other side of the hole and heard a huge crash. She looked over her shoulder to see that the giant man-eater had fallen to the ground and was beginning to steam and decay quickly. She looked up the sky and closed her eyes as a small smile began to grow on her face.

"That one was for you. Mother." She said out loud. Naiyamé had her first kill. She had shed the blood from a Titan for the first time, and it was exasperating. The feeling flowing through her body was amazing. She felt so in power and in control, like nothing could ever stop her or hurt her. It was a glorious feeling and she hoped she would feel like this whenever she killed a Titan. Her feelings of empowerment were interrupted by loud shouting.

"Takahashi! Get your ass up here right now!" She heard the same officer yell. She knew now she was in trouble but she didn't care. Whatever punishment she received, it would be worth for killing her first titan. Naiyamé sighed and shot her rods out and swung herself onto the top of the wall as the officer walked towards with an unhappy look on his face.

"What the fuck was that shit you pulled there Takahashi? I told you to withdraw and you didn't. I don't care how great you think you are, you are still a trainee and that means you are to follow any orders given to you by any of the military branches. Not get your ass back to HQ now and don't try to pull that heroic shit again." The officer yelled to her.

"Yes sir!" Naiyamé shouted back as she jumped off the wall and started to catch her up with her and Eren's squad back to HQ. Naiyamé looked behind her to see a couple of titans had already passed through the gaping hole and members of the Garrison were holding them off. She actually saw one Titan grab a soldier and bite his head clean off. Even though she was far away, she could've sworn she the heard the crunching of his bones which made her sick to her stomach.

"Everyone...I promise...I won't let any your deaths be in vain. This time...I will defeat the Titans!" Naiyamé screamed out with nothing but passion and anger in her voice. Today would be different. Today she would help Humanity win. Even if it costed her life.


	21. Stay Safe

_Naiyamé arrived back at headquarters to be given instructions along with every other soldier by a Garrison Squad Leader_

* * *

"Just like in training, split up into individual squads. You will be under Garrison command. Your duties are to assist in providing supplies, communications, and sweeping up the Titans! The first line of defense will be the frontline unit of Garrison! The second line will be cadet squads under our command! The rearguard will be the Garrison's elite units! We've already received word that the vanguard has been annihilated! The outer gate was destroyed, and the Titans encroached upon the city! This means that the Armored Titan might show up any moment to breach the inner gate!" The squad leader yelled. Naiyamé moved her eyes to see that everyone had a absolute look of horror on their faces.

"That's..."

"No way..."

"Even if Wall Rose falls..." She heard a few soldiers whisper out loud. She could tell that fear had taken control in their voices.

"Silence!" Everyone hushed themselves to let the squad leader continue speaking.

The frontline guards are already in combat! There is but one goal in this defensive operation: Defend Wall Rose until every civilian has evacuated! Also, in case you forgot, let me remind you that desertion is a capital offense! Vow on your hearts to devote your lives! Dismissed!" Everyone responded by putting their fist over their heart.

Chaos was all over headquarters. Everywhere Naiyamé looked to see there were soldiers who were crying and Naiyamé couldn't help but show a small sadness in her eyes. Many of these soldiers had families and they didn't know if they were gonna see them again. Naiyamé guessed that was the reason she wasn't afraid to die. Because she didn't have a family that she had to worry about coming back to. That fear was abolished the day the Titans took the last little bit of family she had left.

Naiyamé's squad had already had their 3DMG refilled and they were ready for combat, but Naiyamé was running behind since she arrived late thanks to her first kill of a Titan. She went inside the storage supply room to refill her gas tanks and it was even more chaotic in there. Couples were hugging each other, Garrison soldiers were yelling at a few trainees. After Naiyamé filled her gas tanks, she quickly went back outside, wanting to get away from the madness and just fight the Titans.

_"Wish me luck Mom..."_ Naiyamé thought to herself. Naiyamé knew if her mother was alive, there would be no way she would let her daughter enter the Scouting Legion. She could choose the Garrison or the Military Police, but not the Scouting Legion. Which Naiyamé found understandable since her mother lost the love of her life in the Scouting Legion.

Naiyamé's thoughts about her mother were quickly interrupted when she heard a familiar voice shouting.

"You wanted to join the Recon Corps! You were prepared to feed yourself to the Titans already! But I was going to the interior tomorrow goddammit!" Naiyamé looked over to her left to see Jean gripping onto Eren and shouting in his face. She quickly began to make her way over there before a fight broke out. Eren and Jean were both hotheads and they could easily end up fighting with each other and there was already enough chaos as there was so Naiyamé was gonna put an end to it.

"Calm down!" Eren said back to him, raising his arms as gesture he didn't want trouble.

"Just chill out and accept my death?!" Jean shouted back at Eren. Naiyamé could tell Jean was just as afraid as everyone else was, he just had a different way of expressing his fear.

"No! Remember our three years of training!" Eren screamed back as he lost his patience and grabbed Jean and started to push him into a pillar. This sudden move made Jean a little shocked.

"We've been on the verge of death so many times during those three years. Some actually died. Some ran away, and some were sent away. But we survived! Didn't we?! We're gonna survive today too!" Eren's promising words made some crying soldiers perk their heads up to look at him.

"You'll survive today, and you're bloody well going to the interior tomorrow!" With that, Eren released his grip on Jean and backed off. Jean stood there for a few seconds stunned by Eren's words before he gritted his teeth and looked to the side.

"Dammit." Naiyamé heard Jean grumble before he walked off. She watch Jean walk back towards Marco, who showed fear in his eyes like everyone else. They were talking for a bit and Naiyamé decided to continue walking back before she heard another familiar voice call her name.

"Naiyamé! Wait!" She turned around to see Jean and Marco running towards her.

Marco embraced her in a sudden hug and she quickly hugged him back. Realizing that this might be the last time she might see Marco and Jean alive.

"Naiyamé please be careful out there, okay?" Marco said with concern. Naiyamé gave him a reassuring smile and hugged him back.

"I will. You do the same too." She replied back as she pulled out of their hug. Marco responded by flashing her his goofy smile that was able to make her smile, even during a crisis like this. Their smiles were quickly ruined though when a Garrison soldier came running up to them.

"What the fuck are you all smiling about? Get your asses in gear and get going!" He yelled at them.

"Right! Sorry Sir!" Marco said before he ran off but Jean stayed behind.

Naiyamé and Jean looked at each other silently for a few seconds. Sweat was rolling down his face.

"Naiyamé I need to tell you some-" Jean started before he was interrupted by Naiyamé's squad running up to her.

"Naiyamé, we gotta get going!" One of her team members said, pulling on Naiyamé's arm slightly.

"Yeah, I know just give me one more minute please." Naiyamé replied back.

Her team member was about to say something until she stopped herself and walked away along with the rest of squad. Naiyamé turned her attention back towards Jean after her squad walked away.

"I'm sorry Jean but I really need to get going. You can tell me what you wanted to say after this is all over, okay? I promise you'll be able to. Stay safe." She said with a assuring smile and started to turn away before Jean grabbed her wrist again just like he did back at the cafeteria. It was the same scene playing over again.

"I..." Jean said as his head looked down at the ground.

"I never had the confidence to tell this. But I want to tell you this now in case anything happens to either of us." He raised his head up as he said the last sentence.

"Jean..." Naiyamé replied back. She didn't know what he was doing. It wasn't like Jean to be all confessional.

"Listen, when I watched you fall and I couldn't do anything about it, I was losing my mind at the thought of you dying...I realized" He paused as his hand reached out to cup her soft cheek.

"I love you Naiyamé" Jean finally said. Naiyamé's eyes widened in shock as a ferocious blush burned her cheeks.

"I..." Naiyamé said as she grabbed his hand.

* * *

Yay! Jean confessed! What is Naiyamé going to say? Favorites and reviews are much appreciated! :)


	22. The Reluctant Hero

_"Listen, when I watched you fall and I couldn't do anything about it, I was losing my mind at the thought of you dying...I realized" He paused as his hand reached out to cup her soft cheek._

_"I love you Naiyamé" Jean finally said. Naiyamé's eyes widened in shock as a ferocious blush burned her cheeks._

_"I..." Naiyamé said as she grabbed his hand._

* * *

"I can't..." She pulled Jean's hand away from his face and started running towards her squad.

"Naiyamé!" She heard Jean shout from behind her.

_"Jean...I'm sorry but...Everyone I love always dies..."_ She said to herself as if she was replying back to Jean's confession. Naiyamé ran as she thought of Jean's words to her.

"Naiyamé! Time to go!" Her squad member Teagan said. She was a year older than Naiyamé but she still looked like a little kid with her round face and her messy pigtails.

"Right..." Naiyamé replied back quietly.

"Naiyamé, why are you crying?" Her other team member Jess asked her.

"Huh?" Naiyamé said in confusion as she put her fingers on her cheek and felt the damp skin. She didn't even realize she was crying.

"No reason. I just got something in my eye was all, lets go!" Naiyamé yelled as her squad darted out of the HQ and began their route to the wall. They were assigned to be just behind Eren's squad and a little in front of Marco's squad.

As they made their way closer to their assigned spot, they started to see the havoc that the Titans had created. Smoke was rising from buildings and Naiyamé could see the silhouettes of the Titans approaching. Her squad stood on top of a bell tower to see a whole view of the wreckage of the town.

"Aghhhhhhhh!" Naiyamé's squad heard off into the distance. It was a blood curling scream. The voice sounded familiar too. Naiyamé took a few steps forward trying to identify the voice.

"Wait...thats...Armin!" Naiyamé said out loud. Naiyamé ran to the edge of the tower that had a large drop and stopped a few inches away from the edge.

"Naiyamé, where are you going!? Thats not where we were posted to guard!" Jess yelled at her.

"If Armin is screaming, Eren's squad is must be in trouble. I'm gonna go help them. Jess, you lead the squad until I come back. If too many Titans surround you, then fall back and if any of the Garrsion try to punish you, tell them that it was on my orders and that I will take all the responsibility, got it?" Naiyamé jumped off the tower and shot her rods out to fly forward.

"Naiyamé, wait!" She heard Teagan yelled behind her.

"I'm responsible for all of your lives. I won't let my comrades die as long as I'm alive." She said to herself as she got closer and closer to the assigned area of Eren's squad. She heard Armin continue to scream and began to see a large Titan reaching it's hand out towards Armin. Naiyamé gripped her blades hard and furrowed her brows as she picked up the speed to get to Armin before the Titan could.

"Hang on Armin!" She yelled to him but he was too far away to hear her.

"Noo!" Armin screamed as he tried to crawl away from the Titan's grasp. It's fingers were only a few feet away from grabbing Armin as he put his arm over his head in a sign of defeat.

_Crash!_ Armin looked up to see the Titan's head land only a few inches away from him ad it's body went limb and it began to steam. He then felt something yanking on his arm and looked up to see it was Naiyamé as they started running as fast as they could away from the Titans.

"Armin! Where is the rest of your squad?" Naiyamé yelled as they used their 3DMG to flee faster.

"They're...They're all dead..." Naiyamé's eyes went wide as she stopped to land on the roof of a building. Completely silent.

"They all got wiped out so quickly...Eren..." Armin said, his voice choking up from fighting back tears.

"Eren...Died saving me!" Armin scream as he fell to his knees, crying his heart out.

_"Eren...We made a promise didn't we? That we wouldn't die. That we would join the Scouting Legion."_ Naiyamé thought to herself as tears silently fell down her face, not a single sniffle coming out of her body.

"I killed Eren. It's all my fault." Armin said, not even trying to fight back tears anymore as he covered his face.

"Naiyamé, I'm so sorry. If only I had been stronger, I could have-"

"Armin." Naiyamé said, cutting him off. Armin raised his head to look at Naiyamé. She slowly walked up to Armin and knelt in front of him, resting her hand on his shoulder. Armin noticed her teary eyes.

"It's not your fault, do you understand? Eren was prepared to die the day he became a trainee. All of your squad was." Naiyamé said calmly.

"Eren may be gone, but...We shared the same goal and dream. As long as I walk this earth, I will not let Eren's dream die." Naiyamé grabbed his hands and pulled him up.

"We're gonna get through this." Her grip on Armin's hands became stronger. His crying and sniffling ceased from Naiyamé's words.

"Now let's go." Naiyamé said as she turned her back against him.

"Right." Armin shouted as they both started running forward and began using their 3DMG.

_"Eren, I'm sorry I couldn't make it in time. But I promise, I'll carry on your dream. I will protect Armin and I will destroy the Titans."_ Naiyamé thought to herself as she surged forward.


	23. I'm Sorry

Naiyamé and Armin hurriedly made it back to the area Naiyamé's squad was posted at but there wasn't any of her squad members in sight and Titans had infested this area as well. Naiyamé was worried that her didn't flee like she requested in this situation but she dearly hoped they followed her orders.

_"I love you Naiyamé."_ Jean's words echoed in her head. Naiyamé was so absorbed in her mind, she didn't realize the abnormal Titan that was quickly coming at her and Armin on their side.

"Aghh!" Naiyamé's thoughts were interrupted when she felt a huge force hit her on her side that sent her into the air as she landed on her back on a roof and hit her head. Hard. Naiyamé was completely dazed and her head was throbbing as she rested on her hands and knees to see the Titan chasing after Armin, her vision still blurry as she felt blood oozing down her face. After she realized Armin was danger, she quickly forced herself to stand up.

"Hey you big piece of shit!" Naiyamé screamed waving her blades to get the Titan's attention. It slowed it's pace and turned it's head to look at Naiyamé which made her tense.

"Armin, run! I'll lead it away!" She yelled to Armin who stood near the Titan.

"But what it if-"

"Just run goddamit!" Naiyamé screamed. The Titan head for Naiyamé at full speed. Naiyamé quickly shot her rods out to move as the Titan struck the area she just stood at, missing hitting Naiyamé by only a few inches.

"You're gonna have to do better than that if you don't these blades shoved up your-" She was cut off when a Titan in front of her swung at her. She tried to dodge but it wasn't enough. The Titan's fingers grazed her side which caused her to break at least one rib as she fell near the edge of the roof. She tried to get back up but her body refused to move.

"Dammit..." Naiyamé whispered she struggled to get up. This wasn't good. She could feel herself getting weaker and she was starting to lose consciousness. The Titans were surrounding her and they were getting closer and closer to her. One reached it's hand out to grab her.

_"I love you Naiyamé."_ The same words echoed in her head again.

"Jean...I'm sorry..." She thought to herself, too weak to speak.


	24. Saviors

_"Dammit..." Naiyamé whispered she struggled to get up. This wasn't good. She could feel herself getting weaker and she was starting to lose consciousness. The Titans were surrounding her and they were getting closer and closer to her. One reached it's hand out to grab her._

_"I love you Naiyamé." The same words echoed in her head again._

_"Jean...I'm sorry..." She thought to herself, too weak to speak._

* * *

Naiyamé looked as a Titan's hand was reaching closer to her, only a few feet away from her face. Her eyes became too heavy to open and they slowly began to close as she heard a faint voice as she was losing consciousness.

"Naiyamé!" The voice called out. It sounded familiar. Suddenly she saw the hand that was reaching for her slice off as a figure stood in front of her. She heard crashed all around her as she saw figures surround. They were fall too to be Titans. They were soldiers.

Naiyamé watched as the figure in front of her kneel down and move it's hand on her face. Her vision was too blurry to see who it was but they looked very familiar. The figure moved to her side and wrapped it's warm arms under her knees and shoulder and sat herself up.

"Naiyamé..." The figure said quietly as it looked at her. She looked back at as her vision cleared just enough to make who it was.

"Jean..." Naiyamé whispered as she lost the battle to keep her eyes awake and lost consciousness.

"Naiyamé, Naiyamé!" Jean yelled as he held her frail bleeding body in his arms. Concerned that she lost consciousness.

"Calm down Jean." Marco said as he rested his hand on Jean's shoulder.

"This isn't good. Shes pretty banged up. Theres no way she can fight like this." Teagan said she walked up to them.

"Hey! Guys! This isn't the time or place for this. We need to get out of here, this place is crawling with Titans."

"Right." Jean said as he stood up with Naiyamé in his arms. He hated seeing her like this so much. Her hair was a mess. Her and face was stained with blood. There were likely bruises covering her body.

_"Why do you have to be so reckless Naiyamé..."_ Jean thought to himself before he took his gaze off her sleeping face and looked at Naiyamé's squad.

"I need you guys to cover me. I can't fight while I'm holding her. We need to avoid unnecessary combat and refill our gas tanks. If we don't refill them soon we're gonners." Jean said calmly before turning to look at Armin.

"And Armin.." He said calmly which made Armin tense from his calm state.

"I'll deal with you later." He said in a serious tone as he furrowed his brows. He turned his attention to Naiyamé's squad who all had concerned look on their faces as they looked at Naiyamé.

"Don't worry. Naiyamé is a stubborn brat. Shes not going anywhere." He replied which made her squad a little less tense.

"Lets go!" Jean shouted as they surged forward to hurry back to HQ.


	25. Not Over Yet

_While the soldiers and squads we're very determined to get to HQ, they realized halfway there just how bad the situation was. They we're almost out of gas, the Supply Team became trapped in HQ by the Titans, and there was no reinforcements in sight. The reality of the situation was that it was pure hopelessness and it was daunting on all of the young soldiers._

* * *

_"I thought...If we just fought...If we just kept moving forward, that it would all be okay..."_ Jean thought to himself. He and all the other soldiers sat upon the top of the buildings, sulking in hopeless of the situation. He looked over to Naiyamé's squad looking after the still unconscious squad leader.

_"Why does the world have to be against us? Why do we try so hard to not accept our fate, and change our destiny, but the truth is...We are nothing but pesky insects in this world..."_ Jean and many of the other cadets had lost their hope and will to fight.

"Hey Jean! What do we do now?" Connie asked Jean. He was a young graduate like the rest of the soldiers but because of how short he was and facetious personality, he seemed like a little kid.

"Theres nothing we can do...We finally we receive the order to retreat, but without more gas, we can't climb the walls. We're all going to die...Because of those cowards." Jean replied back as he raised his head to let it rest on his hand as sweat rolled down his face. Horrified of the reality he was in.

"The Supply Team...What happened to them?! Were they wiped out?" Connie asked as he raised his arms in frustration.

"They're too terrified to move. I can see why...But abandoning their mission to resupply us to hide inside HQ? Unbelievable. And sure enough, the Titans have swarmed them, so we can't get more gas..." Jean replied back.

"Then we must take a chance, and try to destroy the Titans around HQ! We won't be any worse off than sitting here...The Titans will be here before long! And if we keep running, we'll just waste the gas we have. Without the use of our Maneuver Gear, we really are done for!" Connie said as he tapped on his gas tanks. The empty sound they created only dulled Jean even more. Jean lifted his head to gaze at Connie.

"I'm surprised to see you using your head for once, Connie. But do you think we can do that, given out numbers here? Most of the veterans in the vanguard were killed. Which of us trainees could lead a suicidal mission like that? Well, even if someone could, we can't fight the Titans. I bet the gas supply room is chock-full of 3- to 4- meter class Titans. Obviously, we can't refuel with them around." He said bluntly. Connie gasped as he too realized the horror of the reality they were facing.

"So we're doomed?" Connie asked. Jean let out a sigh to his question.

"What a stupid life...If I'd had know this would happen, I would've told them." Jean said to himself. As he looked at Naiyamé.

_"At least I told you how I feel...But you don't feel the same for me..."_ He thought to himself.

"Let's do it guys! Come on, stand up...If we all work together, we'll be fine! I'll take the lead." Sasha said out loud. She was one of the top 10/11 graduates of their unit and she was alot like Connie with her goofiness and her naive ideas. But everyone ignored Sasha's attempts to try to motivate them. She looked to see Armin sitting alone, feeling as guilty as ever for causing so many people to get hurt over him. Sasha ran over to him.

"Armin, let's all..." She stopped and slowed her pace when she saw he had the same look of hopeless on his face.

"It's hopeless. There's no way any of us can make it out of this town alive." Marco said quietly. Jean knew the situation was really bad if even Marco couldn't stay positive. Marco lifted his head to look at the gray, gloomy sky. Even the Heavens wouldn't shine on this situation.

"I knew I could die...But what am I dying for?" Marco's voice dropped to a whisper. Everyone's thoughts about death were interrupted when they heard light footsteps coming their way.

"Mikasa! I thought you were with the rearguard." A soldier said.

"Annie!" Mikasa called out to her blond-haired, blue-eyes comrade.

"I have a basic idea of what's happening. And I'm sorry to involve my personal feelings, but did you see Eren's team?" She asked Annie.

"I didn't see them, but no one's made it up the walls." Annie replied.

"Actually, Armin's over there." Reiner, another one of their comrades, replied to Mikasa, pointing in the direction Armin was sitting alone. Mikasa turned her gaze to Armin.

"Armin!" Mikasa shouted as she made her way to Armin. Hearing her call his name made Armin tense. How was he supposed to tell her what happened to her brother? Mikasa slowly knelt in front of him.

"Armin, are you hurt? Are you okay?" Mikasa asked.

_"He's fine, thanks to Naiyamé almost dying to save his wimpy ass..."_ Jean thought to himself. Armin didn't reply to her questions so Mikasa stood up again, looking around.

"Where is Eren?" Armin didn't reply as he gritted his teeth and tears began to flow down his face. He raised his head to look at her. All of her questions were answered when she saw the look of pure horror on his face. Armin began to reply in a squeaky voice filled with tears.

"The members of the Trainee Corps Team 34...Thomas Wagner, Nack Tias, Milius Zermusky, Mina Karolina...Eren Jaeger! These five died valiantly in the line of duty!" Armin replied half-choked.

"No.." Sasha said quietly. Everyone looked at Armin, knowing that their names could be announced to say that they died in the line of duty.

"Team 34 was almost wiped out, then? If we try to face the Titans, the same will happen to us." A soldier said. Everyone watched while Armin shook like a leaf.

"I'm sorry, Mikasa... Eren... He sacrificed himself for me. I... I couldn't do anything! I'm sorry..." Armin said as tears flowed down his face, being drowned by guilt. Mikasa knelt down and rested her hand on his.

"Armin. Calm down. This isn't the time to get emotional." Mikasa said with cold emotionless look on her face.

"Huh?" Armin replied confused by her reaction.

"Now, stand up" Mikasa replied as she gently pulled Armin to stand.

"Marco, if we eliminate the Titans swarming HQ, then we can refuel and climb the walls. Isn't that right?" Mikasa asked she walked passed all the soldiers.

"That's right but... Even with you here, there are too many..." Marco replied, watching Mikasa.

"I can do it." Mikasa simply stated as she draw out her blades.

"Huh?" Marco replied.

"I am strong! Stronger than you guys. Very strong. Therefore, I can defeat the Titans! Even on my own." Mikasa stated as he raised her blade into the air. Everyone stared at her silence.

"You are not only weak, but you are spineless cowards." She lowered her arm, pointing her blade at her comrades.

"I am disappointed in you. Just stay here... Stay here and watch." Mikasa continued.

"Hey, Mikasa! What are you saying?!" A female soldier asked.

"You're going to fight all of those Titans by yourself?!" Another soldier questioned.

"There's no way you can do that!" The soldiers began to argue against her.

"If I can't, I'll die." Mikasa turned her back and stood on the very edge of the building.

"But if I win, I'll live. If I don't fight, I can't win." Was all she said before she jumped off the building and surged forward with her Maneuver Gear.

"Wait!" A soldier yelled as she fly away. They all stood in silence by her words.

"What's disappointing here is your vocabulary... Was that supposed to be an inspirational speech?" Jean said out loud as he got up and walked to over to Naiyamé and picked up her frail body in his arms. He looked at her face. Even in her sleep she winced in pain. He looked at the now dried up blood that was on her face and clothing.

"Naiyamé you brat, why did you have to go and try to play the hero?" He said out loud as he pushed her blood-stained hair out of her face before he gritted his teeth and furrowed his brows.

"This is your fault, Eren!" He yelled. He took his gaze off Naiyamé and turned to face his comrades.

"Were we trained to let our fellow soldiers fight alone?! Do you really want to become cowards?!" Jean shouted at the scared soldiers before running off, following Mikasa. Naiyamé's squad following closely behind him.

"I'm gonna need you guys to cover me again, can you do it?" Jean said as he flew forward.

"Don't take us lightly Jean!" Teagan yelled out loud. Jean heard the soldiers behind him shout and quickly enough, they we're right behind him in the pursuit to reach HQ. The battle wasn't over yet.


	26. Change of Plans

"Hurry! Follow Mikasa! Let's keep this fight short! We need to kill them all before we run out of gas!" Jean shouted as he surged forward with a hurt Naiyamé in his arms with all of his comrades quickly following behind him.

"Mikasa is just amazing. How can she move that fast?" Connie asked he moved forward. Mikasa was in a silent rage moment. Jean figured as much since she just found out her only family left was killed by the Titans. Jean looked at Naiyamé's hurt face.

_"Just like you huh?"_ He thought to himself. Naiyamé was always better than him at everything. She was always in front of him. She never needed help for anything. Jean always thought how strong and fearless she was. But holding her pained and light body like this, and seeing the gentleness in her sleeping face, made Jean realize just how fragile she was.

"Naiyamé..." Jean whispered.

"Mikasa!" Armin's yelling made Jean perk his head up to see Mikasa falling. Now Jean was scared. It seemed like Mikasa used all of her gas.

"Dammit!" Jean shouted out loud as Armin changed his course to find Mikasa. Mikasa was the greatest soldier they had, but now without her agility, the situation seemed hopeless again.

"Jean! You lead the others! I'll go with Armin!" Connie shouted.

"I'm going with you!" Jean shouted back.

"What are you talking about?! There are more Titans left! We need your skills!" Connie shouted as he darted away from Jean to follow Armin. Jean was scared now. All of his actions determined his and his comrades lives. Jean closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, scared on the responsibility he now held.

"Jean, focus!" Teagan shouted from behind.

"We're all scared Jean but we've gotta do this!" Jess shouted as well. Jean sighed and looked forward to see just how far away HQ was and how little ground they had covered.

"How long until we all end up like Mikasa?" Jean thought. His worry and panic caused him to make his first command.

"Stop!" Jean yelled as he landed on the roof a building. All of his comrades quickly halted as well behind him

"Whats wrong Jean?" Jess asked. Jean ignored his comrade's question and stood there quiet for a few moments, looking at HQ.

_"It's no good. We won't get close to HQ..."_ He thought to himself before he looked down to see all of the Titans lurking at the bottom.

_"Unless we're prepared to make sacrifices."_ He finished his thought. Jean looked around and saw a trainee standing on the ground, pulling on the trigger to use his gas boost himself up to the safety of the roof but all Jean heard was the hiss of the 3DMG, reminding the trainee that he was out of gas.

_"Damn! He's outta gas!"_ Jean shouted in his mind as he turned to Jess, prepared to give him Naiyamé so he could help his comrade until a shout from the ground made him look back.

"Stay away!" The poor trainee shouted as Titans swarmed all over him. It made Jean stop in his tracks and just stare at the new Titan food.

"Tom! I'm going to save you!" He heard someone shout from behind him as he saw a young comrade swing down to the ground, ready to save the helpless trainee.

"Stop! You can't!" Jean shouted, warning his comrade of the hopeless situation. But it was too late. Jean watched as a Titan grabbed that trainee and heard the sickening screams of his comrades last moments before hearing the crunching sound of bones being crushed. It made Jean want to hurl hearing the horrendous sounds.

_"Why couldn't I stop them?"_ Jean thought as he watched the blood of his comrades trail down the Titan's hands.

_"Why didn't I stop them? If I had stopped them, even by force... This wouldn't happen."_ He continued, sheer fear flowing thought his body.

_"Am I really cut out for this? Am I really cut out for a position with so much responsibility?"_ Jean questioned himself, gritting his teeth, and gripping Naiyamé even tighter in his arms. His comrades stared at him behind in horror as they watched their friends be consumed by the Titans.

"Stop! I don't want to die!" He heard someone yell as he closed his eyes, the images of what he just witnessed playing in his mind.


	27. Stepping Up

_"Am I really cut out for this? Am I really cut out for a position with so much responsibility?" Jean questioned himself, gritting his teeth, and gripping Naiyamé even tighter in his arms. His comrades stared at him behind in horror as they watched their friends be consumed by the Titans._

* * *

_"No! Wait!"_ Jean opened his eyes, an idea had popped into his head.

_"The Titans are relatively concentrated around there. This is our chance!"_ Jean thought to himself, snapping out of his fear-induced state. He turned to his comrades who stood there struck by fear, looking at the corpses of what was left of their friends.

"Go! Hurry to HQ while you can!" Jean's shouting made them snap out of their fear-stricken state and turn their gazes towards Jean.

"Teagan, Jess!" Jean shouted as he jumped off the building, running forward to save as much gas as he could.

"Right!" They both yelled together as they quickly followed behind Jean. Ready to strike down any Titans that dared to touch Jean while he was holding their beloved squad leader in his arms.

_"It's now or never! We're finished if our gas runs out!"_ Jean thought to himself as he darted forward.

"Everyone! Move in!" Jean yelled to his comrades. He looked ahead to see a group of Titans right in their path, he tightened his grip on Naiyamé as he and everyone else snaked through the group of man-eaters.

Jean was almost past them until he felt something grip onto his leg. A Titan. Jean's heart stopped when he looked down to see the giant hand wrapped onto his leg. And he couldn't fight with Naiyamé in his arms. He was about to thrash his leg until he saw a blade slice through the Titan's fingers, releasing Jean.

"Keep moving! I got you!" He heard Jess yell as he moved forward once again. Jean landed on a roof and started running until he heard a familiar name call his voice.

"Jean!" He looked over to see it was Marco. He hadn't talked to him since they were all at HQ. Although this wasn't exactly the best time for a conversation. Even now Jean could see that Marco was wearing his goofy smile.

"Thanks! I only got out because of you." Marco yelled at Jean. Now Jean was just confused. Why was Marco thanking him?

"Huh?" Jean replied, terribly confused by Marco's thank you to him.

"It's all thanks to you! I told you before didn't I? You're cut out to be a leader!" Marco explained which made Jean slip him a grin before he turned his attention forward again.

"I seriously don't know." Was all Jean replied before he jumped up to glide past a Titan's grip. He looked to his left to see Jess get swiped by a Titan's hand as his blood flew everywhere. Jean looked back in horror to see an unconscious and bloody Jess in a Titan's hand.

"Jess!" Jean heard Teagan cry out.

"Dammit!" Jean yelled in frustration as he looked forward to realize they had finally made it to HQ. But at a dear cost of the lives of his comrades. Jean gripped Naiyamé tight in his arms and screamed in frustration, bracing himself to crash through the windows of HQ.

Jean blasted the little bit of gas he had left and stuck his feet straight out and crashed through the window as he landed ungracefully from the extra weight he was carrying in his arms and fell onto the floor, but shifted himself onto his back so as to not crush the already injured Naiyamé.

Jean sat up and looked at all the other windows, waiting for his comrades to make the same entrance. Luckily it only took a few seconds for his comrades to crash through the windows as well.

_"How many of us made it?"_ Jean thought to himself as he gently laid Naiyamé down, his arms sore from holding her for so long. He looked at her face for a min as his hand stroked her blood-stained cheek.

_"Using the deaths of our comrades... How many died on my command?"_ His thoughts were interrupted when he looked to his left to see a few young soldiers hiding under a desk. Every one of them had looks of horror on their faces and one of them had blood covering the side of their faces.

"Your part of the Supply Squad, aren't you?" Jean asked the frightened trainees. When the trainees did not answer, rage filled Jean's body as he thought of the horrors he and his comrades went through because these trainee were too frightened to help them.

Jean grabbed on the trainees by the collar of his uniform jacket and punched him as hard as he could, bruising his hand and staining it with the trainee's blood. Marco quickly ran up from behind him and gripped Jean's arms to prevent him from hitting the frightened trainee again.

"These bastards abandoned us!" Jean shouted, trying to free himself of Marco's tight grip but to no avail.

"Do you even have a clue how many died?!" Screaming at the top of his lungs. The trainee that was covered in blood made her way to her hurt comrade, tears flowing down her face.

"The Titans invaded the supply depot! What could we have done?!" She shouted back at Jean.

"It's your _job_ to figure something out!" He screamed back at her. Silenced filled the room for a few moments before he Reiner started to yell.

"Take cover!" He shouted. But anyone could even ask what Reiner was talking about, a loud crash filled the room and the impact made everyone fly forward and lose their balance as they all fell down to the floor. Jean ran toward Naiyamé and put his arms around her, ready to pick her up again.

"Dammit!" Jean yelled as he looked outside to see Titans huddling around the windows.

"There are too many people gathered here!" He shouted as they all ran for the doors that led deeper into HQ.

"Hurry! Inside! Run for your lives!" He heard Teagan yelling to the soldiers as they all scrammed to get inside but Jean stood there with Naiyamé in his arms.

"Where's Mikasa?!" He heard a soldier asked.

"She crashed back there! She's been eaten!" Another soldier replied.

_"This is normal...This is reality isn't it? Was I just chasing after a delusional dream? I thought I knew reality. Just thinking about it, it's obvious..."_ He thought as he looked at two Titans with a devious look on their ugly faces.

_"There' no way to beat these gigantic monstrosities."_ He stood there in silence, gripping onto Naiaymé as he continued to stare at the beasts. The seconds that went by looking at their hunger-filled eyes felt like years. But suddenly, a giant fist crashed into one of the Titans that made Jean gasp.

"What?!" He yelled before he heard another large crash. He watched as a tall black-haired Titan with piercing teal eyes punched the two Titans that were staring at Jean. He look at the Titan that had nothing but anger in voice as it let out a large scream.

"What... Is that?" Jean said out loud. But before his question could be answered, he heard the sound of breaking glass to see Mikasa, Connie, and Armin had crashed through the window.


	28. Last Option

_"What... Is that?" Jean said out loud. But before his question could be answered, he heard the sound of breaking glass to see Mikasa, Connie, and Armin had crashed through the window._

* * *

"Mikasa?!" Jean said in disbelief. He was sure that the Titans had quickly consumed all of them when Mikasa crashed.

"It's empty... We did it! We just barely made it!" Connie said optimistically as he tapped the empty gas tank. Mikasa stood up and turned her attention towards Jean as he walked up to her.

"You're...all alive?" Jean asked.

"We did it, Armin! Your plan was a success!" Was the only thing responded to Jean's question as Connie patted Armin's back hard making Armin flinch in pain at every pat.

"Everyone! That Titan's an abnormality that slaughters other Titans! It's not even interested in attacking other humans!" Connie said as he stood up and pointed to the Titan that just threw a punch against it's own kind. Everyone watched as the abnormal Titan walked closer to the other Titans to continue it's barrage of attacks.

"If we play our cards right, we can all get outta here alive!" Connie shouted happily.

"We'd... Use the Titan?" A soldier asked confused as much as everyone else was.

"You'd rely on a Titan's help?" Jean questioned. There was no way they could a Titan to help them after Jean and all of his comrades had just watched them eat their friends.

"That's more delusional than any dream!" He continued. It had to be a dream. It was just impossible for a Titan to ever help a human.

"It's not a dream." Mikasa replied. Jean turned his attention towards her.

"I don't care if it's an abnormal or whatever. Just let it rampage her for as long as possible. Realistically, that's our best option for survival." Mikasa finished as everyone turned their attention to watch the Titan release it's rage against the other Titans. Taking one Titan down after the other.

"The Hell with it. Whatever works anymore I guess." Jean replied casually. This day was just too much for him anymore and he was just tired arguing. Everyone went inside the doors to the lift room, Naiyamé still in Jean's arms. Leaving the chaotic scene happening just outside.

"She still isn't awake yet?" Connie asked with a look of concern on his face as he and Armin walked with Jean. Jean dropped his head and looked at Naiyamé before turning his gaze towards Armin who was walking behind Connie and shot him a glare which made Armin tense.

"No..." Jean replied in a serious tone. Jean's arms were seriously starting to get sore from holding Naiyamé for so long.

He looked around the lift room and saw Teagan sitting in a corner alone, mourning over Jess's death.

"Teagan." Jean called out her name as he walked up to her which made Teagan perk her head up to look at Jean. "Yeah?" She asked sadly.

"Will you watch her for me please?" Jean asked with concern on his face.

"Sure. She's my squad leader after all." Teagan replied. Jean slowly knelt down and gently laid Naiyamé next to Teagan. Teagan fixed her posture and had Naiyamé's head resting on her thigh. Jean slowly stroked Naiyamé's hair, noticing she was looking paler and breathing harder which made his concern for her grow higher than it already was. Teagan reached her arm out and patted Jean on the head.

"She'll pull through this." Teagan said with a slight smile. Jean returned the smile but it quickly faded away when he looked at Naiyamé's pale face again.

"I know she will...She just has to..." Jean replied quietly.

"She's a good leader and the most bravest and selfless person I've ever known. All she cares about is protecting her comrades. It doesn't matter who the soldier is, she'll put her life on the line without a second thought to protect them." Teagan said with a smile growing on her face as she looked her squad leader.

"Yeah...She really is an amazing person..." Jean replied back, happy to see how much Naiyamé's squad member appreciates her. Both of the soldiers looked at Naiyamé in silence before Teagan broke that silence.

"You know she loves you right?" Teagan asked as she raised her head to look at Jean. Jean perked his head up from shock when he heard Teagan say that.

"She does?..." Jean asked eagerly. Teagan giggled slightly from the look on Jean's face which made Jean frown at her for laughing at him. Teagan quieted her giggle and composed herself again.

"Yeah...She was crying when she ran to meet up with our squad after you guys had your talk." Teagan said calmly. Teagan's response made Jean let out a small gasp. He returned his gaze towards Naiyamé again.

_"You cried...for me?..."_ Jean thought to himself.

"Jean." Marco called out from behind as he walked to Jean and Teagan. Both lifted their gazes from Naiyamé to look at Marco.

"We need to look around here and see if we can find anything that'll help us." Marco said he rested his hand on Jean's shoulder.

"Yeah..." Jean replied as he reluctantly stood up and looked at Naiyamé one more time before walking away.

Jean and the other scavenged through a small storage room and grabbed some boxes to see whatever weapons they could find. After they found what they could, they returned to the lift room.

"We found some! They're Military Police supplies, though they're covered in dust..." Jean announced as they entered the lift room with other soldiers carrying dusty boxes. They all opened the boxes to see the supplied weapons were just rifles.

"Will three bullets be enough? Do these guns even work against the Titans in the first place?" Jean asked himself as he loaded his rifle as everyone crouched down near Armin who had a map of the supply room laid out.

"It's better than nothing." Armin replied as he looked at Jean who shot him another glare but this time Armin didn't get tense which slightly angered Jean but this wasn't the time to beat anyone to a pulp so he just let out a huff filled with frustration. Armin turned his attention to look at all the soldiers in the room.

"Even if there are still seven 3-4 meter class Titans in the supply room, blinding them all at once isn't impossible with this much firepower." Armin then paused and began to explain the plan to everyone.

"First, we'll use the lift to lower a large number of people into the center of the chamber. Next, they'll fire directly into the faces of all seven Titans at once. We'll blind them. The next instance will decide everything. Seven other people hiding near the ceiling will swoop down to attack their weak spots while they're blind." Armin paused to catch his breath and continued again.

"In other words... If we follow this plan, we'll be gambling everything on this single attack. The whole point is for seven people to kill all seven Titans simultaneously. The seven people should be the most physically capable ones. You'll have to shoulder the burden of everyone's lives... I'm sorry." Armin finished explaining. Although Jean hated to admit it, Armin was always good at coming up with effective plans.

"No problem." Reiner replied with a grin on his face to Armin.

"Whoever fails, all of us will die. The risk is the same." Annie said standing behind Reiner.

"But... I'm a nobody. Is my plan really the best option?" Armin replied back, uncertainty filling his voice. Marco who was crouched next to Armin gave a slight smile and assured Armin.

"We've got no other choices except your plan. There's no time left to think. This idea is our only shot. Now, we've just gotta give it everything we've got." Marco replied to Armin. He then turned his head towards Teagan and Naiyamé.

"And we gotta do it quick okay? I wanna help out my hurt friend over there." He finished talking.

"Don't worry. Be confident. You've got a talent for reasoning out the best solution." Mikasa said to Armin. Armin gave her a astonished look from her sudden compliment.

"That intuition has saved my life before, and Eren's life too." She finished.

"Huh? When?" Armin asked confused. But before Mikasa could reply, they all heard the sound of the of the lift opening.

"The lift's ready! The guns too! All of them are loaded!" A soldier announced. All of the soldiers took a vote and it was decided that Jean, Mikasa, Connie, Reiner, Sasha, Annie, and Bertholdt would be the seven to take down the seven Titans in the supply room. The selected seven all walked downstairs which led to a small escape door to the ceiling while the other soldiers went into the lift to lower themselves in the supply room.

The seven soldiers all quietly crawled on the supports of the roof, getting in the perfect position to surround the lift once it was lowered. Jean felt vulnerable without his 3DMG. If he missed his kill, then his comrade's deaths would be on his shoulders. And he no longer wanted to be responsible for killing anyone else. Once all of the seven were in their positions, Reiner flashed his blade to signal the other soldiers to lower themselves down. The plan was about to begin.


	29. Strike

"It's okay. They're numbers haven't changed." Marco whispered as the lift went lower and lower. He and all the other soldiers cocked their guns and pointed them at the Titans who noticed their potential meals.

"We're a still a go!" Marco said nervously. Sweat was dripping down his face. Everyone was terrified of the possibility of the plan failing and ending up as Titan food. Everyone remained quiet as the Titans began to get closer and closer to the soldiers. The ground shook with every step the Titans took. One Titan walked slowly , it's face covered by it's hair. It then suddenly shot a devious grin to the Titan bait, making one of the soldiers gasp at trying to hold back a scream.

"Keep calm! Draw them in!" Marco reminded the petrified soldiers. Even though he was shaking just as much as everyone else was.

_Thump. Thump. Thump._ Was the only sound the soldiers heard as the Titans drew closer and closer to them.

"Wait." Marco whispered. Every step brought the Titans closer. _Thump. Thump. Thump._

"Wait." He whispered again. Almost everyone was shaking like a leaf by this point. The Titans were only a few feet away from the lift. The Titan that gave the sinister grin had made it's way to the lift. _Thump._ It stopped walking and only leaned it's head slowly toward the lift.

"Ready..." Marco whispered as he wrapped his finger on the trigger of his gun. Just a few more inches and they would be ready to fire. The Titans were lethally close but the soldiers had to draw the Titans in as close as they could. They had to make these shots counts. Their lives depended on it. _Thump._

"Fire!" Marco shouted. Instantly, a barrage of flashes lighted up the room as the soldiers all fired at the Titans, using all the bullets they had. Their part was done. Now it was up to the chosen soldiers to take down the Titans while they were blind.

As soon as the firing ceased, the soldiers on the supports, sprinted toward the blinded Titans and jumped off in the perfect position to get a clean kill at Titans below them. Everyone raised their blades above their arms and swung at the weak spots of their targeted Titan, slashing through their skin. Jean felt spots of his face sting from drops of hot Titan blood landing on his skin. _Crash. Crash. Crash. Crash. Crash._ Was all that could be heard as the slaughtered Titans fell to the ground in defeat.

_"Wait, there were only five. That means!-"_ Jean's thoughts were cut off as he looked up to see two Titans still standing as he watched Connie and Sasha land behind them

"Shit! Theres still two of them!" Jean yelled as he gripped his blades hard and gritted his teeth. The two Titans turned around to see who had tried to attack them.

"U-Um.. So sorry to attack... From behind.." Sasha whispered with a slight smile on her face, but her eyes showed how petrified she was. The Titans walked closer to her and Connie.

"Sasha and Connie..." Bertholdt said as he looked at Jean who was standing next him.

"Hurry and help them!" Jean yelled as he looked at the soldiers. By this point, Sasha had tears streaming down her face.

"I'm..." Sasha didn't finish her sentence as the Titan lunged for her.

"So sorry!" She screamed as he jumped to the side to dodge the Titan, falling to the floor. She looked behind her to see the Titan crawling after her but she looked up to suddenly see Mikasa land land on the Titan's neck as she slashed it hard, blood trailing down her blades. The Titan's head fell to the ground as it's body went limb.

Jean looked off to where he saw Connie, back against the wall as Annie swooped down and killed the last remaining Titan. Connie stood there frozen from fear and shock.

"Mikasa! You saved me! " Sasha yelled as Mikasa walked down from the Titan's dead body. Tears were flowing from her eyes as she gripped on to Mikasa.

"Are you injured?" Mikasa calmly asked.

"No, thanks to you-" Sasha's thank you was cut off as Mikasa interrupted her.

"Then stand up." She firmly said.

"Sorry..." Connie said to Annie.

"It was nothing." Annie replied back.

"Hey now... That was really close Annie. I'm glad that you weren't hurt." Reiner said as he walked up behind her. Annie said nothing and walked away.

"We got them all! Begin the resupply." A soldier shouted from the lift. Everyone's fear left their eyes as smiles began to grow on their faces.

"We did it!" Armin announced. Marco who was standing next to Armin let out a slow breath and almost fainted as the soldiers caught him from falling back. Everyone made their way down from the lift and began to refuel their gas tanks, all smiling and relieved that they had their mobility and agility back and could finally climb the walls to escape the nightmare they were in. Marco and Jean sat next to each other as they refueled their gas tanks.

"I don't think I'm cut out to be a leader... Don't say things like that." Jean said to Marco as he broke the silence between them. Marco gasped a little at Jean's comment and turned his towards him. But he quickly turned his attention back to his 3DMG and grabbed his other gas tank and began to fill it as he started to show a slight smile.

"I hope you won't get mad when I say this... But you aren't a strong person. So you can relate to how the weak feel. In addition, you excel in sizing up any situation. Isn't that why you immediately know what should be done? Jean went wide-eyes at Marco's explanation. Marco turned his head to face Jean as he finished refueling his last gas tank.

"You gave the right orders. That's why I could jump, and it's why I'm still alive." Marco finished saying. Jean gasped at Marco's compliment to him. No one had ever explained to him how much of a potential he had at being a leader but Marco saw it clearly. After all the soldier's finished refueling their gas tanks, they all we're prepared to leave HQ and escape Trost.


	30. Surprise

"Do we have everyone?" Mikasa asked as all the soldiers were about to exit HQ. Jean's heart started racing as he thought about Naiyamé and how bad she looked when he left her in Teagan's hands.

"I need to go upstairs again. Teagan was looking after Naiyamé. I need to grab them both." Jean said as he hurriedly made his way back up stairs.

"We'll be on the roof waiting for you Jean!" Jean heard Reiner shout in the distance.  
Jean ran up the stairs and through the halls as fast he could. He went down the hallway until he found the doors that led to lift room and burst through them.

His eyes scanned the room until he found Teagan in same position she was in as he left her.

"Teagan!" Jean shouted out as he ran toward her. Teagan lifted her head to look at Jean.

"Jean!" Teagan yelled back as she started smiling. Jean knelt down and gave Teagan his spare gas tanks and took Naiyamé in his arms again.

"I was scared Jean. I heard alot of crashes and I didn't know what was going on. Where are the others?" Teagan asked with concern.

"They're all fine. They're on the roof waiting for us." Jean said he turned away and began to make his way up to the roof to see the other soldiers had left and only saw Mikasa, Armin, Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt standing there and staring at something.

"What are they looking at?" Teagan asked. Jean looked at Teagan who had a confused expression on her face.

"Teagan you head back with the others, they're all climbing the wall. I'll be right behind you." Jean said calmly. Teagan looked at Naiyamé in his arms and was about to protest but Jean started to walk away from her to see what the others we're looking at.

As he got closer, he saw that the abnormal that had saved them from being eaten earlier was being devoured by multiple Titans. Jean gasped at the strange scene. Never had they been taught that Titans can eat their own kind. Jean walked closer to hear what his comrades were saying

"I thought if we could solve the mystery of that Titan, it may give us a way to overcome our bleak predicament..." Mikasa said as she looked at the Titan.

"I agree." Reiner said which made Mikasa turned around to look at him.

_"What?..."_ Jean thought to himself as he looked at Reiner in shock.

"If it gets eaten, we won't learn anything. Let's try to keep it alive by the ones clinging to it." Reiner suggested.

"Are you insane Riener?!" Everyone turned their attention towards Jean who was flabbergasted at the thought of helping a Titan.

"We can finally get out of here!" Jean shouted.

"What if it might be able to help us? Might it not prove a greater weapon than any cannon?" Annie replied.

"Help us? Are you serious?" Jean questioned, flabbergasted at the idea of a Titan helping a Human. Everyone's thoughts were interrupted when they heard Armin gasp as he looked at a Titan that was walking towards the other Titans

"That's... The Aberrant that ate Thomas..." Armin said quietly as he stared at the Titan. Everyone heard a loud familiar scream and looked to see the Titan that was being devoured charge forward for the Aberrant with a few Titans still attached to it as they consumed it. The Titan screamed with fury in it's voice as it lunged forward at the Aberrant and bit down on it's neck since it's arms were eaten.

Everyone was shocked by the Titan's actions as it lifted the Aberrant into the air with it's mouth and thrashed it and then swung it at the other Titans and they all crashed into nearby buildings from the Titan flung at them.

"Come on..." Jean said in pure shock from witnessing what had just happened. The Aberrant's head was still in the Titan's mouth before the Titan released it's jaw and screamed loudly as it raised it's head as if it was a battle cry.

"It doesn't need help..." Jean finished saying as they all stared at the Titan, still letting out it's battle cry. After the Titan finished it's battle cry, the Titan swayed a little before falling to the ground, it's body going limb.

"I guess it finally exhausted itself..." Jean commented. Jean half-turned and made an announcement to his comrades

"That's enough... We're leaving." He fully turned and started taking a few steps forward, looking at Naiyamé in his arms.

"That thing couldn't possibly help us... A Titan is _still_ a Titan" He mumbled. He noticed that none of his comrades had followed him so he turned around to look at what they were looking at.

"What is it?" Jean asked as he looked at the steaming corpse. He didn't see anything unusual until he saw something peak through the Titan's neck. It almost looked like a person. This thing began to emit itself, slipping away from the flesh around around it. It looked more and more like a human as the flesh covering it melted away. Everyone stared at until they saw a head free itself from the flesh covering it. It was Eren.


	31. Wrong Turn

_"What is it?" Jean asked as he looked at the steaming corpse. He didn't see anything unusual until he saw something peak through the Titan's neck. It almost looked like a person. This thing began to emit itself, slipping away from the flesh around around it. It looked more and more like a human as the flesh covering it melted away. Everyone stared at until they saw a head free itself from the flesh covering it. It was Eren._

* * *

_"Eren?...How is that possible?"_ Jean thought to himself as his eyes became wide with shock. He heard Mikasa gasp as everyone stared at the unconscious Eren. Mikasa lowered herself and shot her rods out to get down to the ground.

"Mikasa!" Armin shouted as she shot her rods out to get down to the ground. Everyone watched as Mikasa started sprinting towards Eren, climbing on top of the Titan and hugged him as tight as she could and stayed still for a few seconds in pure disbelief that she was holding him.

She lowered her head to his chest and to listen for his heartbeat. Everyone saw tears started forming at her eyes as she raised her head and sobbed loudly as she held Eren as tight as she could.

Jean had seen that look before. That was the same look Naiyamé had when they first saw each other after That Day. It was the look of thankfulness and disbelief. Jean looked down at Naiyamé and looked at Mikasa again.

"Jean..." He heard a faint voice call his name. He looked down to see Naiyamé slowly open her eyes. Jean started smiling to see that she was finally awake.

"Naiaymé!" Jean called out her name. Everyone turned around to look at Naiyamé.

"Jean..." Naiyamé said again as she slowly raised her hand to touch his face which made Jean's heart race from her frail and gentle touch.

"I'm...sorry..." Naiyamé said before Jean heard her gurgle a little and unexpectedly coughed up blood. The small smile on Jean's face was destroyed when he saw that.

"Naiyamé!" Jean cried out in concern. Naiyamé's eyes closed and she lost consciousness again. Jean started running in the direction of the Wall and stopped at the edge of the roof before he turned his head to look at his comrades staring at him.

"Don't just stand there! Get Mikasa and Eren and get back to the wall! It's dangerous for them to be down there, now hurry!" He shouted before he jumped off the building and shot his rods at the buildings around him and surged forward, blasting as much gas as he could to make him go faster. He looked down at Naiyamé and looked at the stream of blood coming from the side of her mouth.

"Naiyamé, please... Don't die on me." Jean said softly as he kissed her forehead. He looked up again to see Titan right in his path, their disgusting hands reaching out towards him. Jean's blood had come to a boiling point. They did this to her. They were responsible for hurting Naiyamé. And hurting Naiyamé was unforgivable to Jean. As he got closer to the Titan's, one of them suddenly swung their arm out to grab Jean.

"Outta my way!" Jean screamed with fury as he adjusted his position and twirled around, snaking through the Titan's grasp.

"Don't die. Don't die. Don't die." Jean said over and over as tears formed at his eyes. He looked up to see he was getting close to the wall. But was he going to get there in time?


	32. Strengths and Weaknesses

"Naiyame..." Jean said quietly with tears running down his face.

_"You shouldn't play the hero you brat..."_ He thought to himself as he gritted his teeth in frustration. Jean was getting closer and closer to the wall as every second passed by. He saw another Titan up ahead and he tightened his grip on Naiyamé. As he got closer to the Titan, he noticed something was in his hand as the Titan brought it to it's mouth. Jean was close enough to identify it was a soldier. It was Teagan.

"No..." Jean whispered as he flew past the Titan right when it bit down on Teagan. Jean never wanted this responsibility. He never wanted to fight the Titans. He just wanted the comfy interior life like everyone else.

_"Why does this happen to us?"_ Jean thought. It would only take another minute. But Naiyamé didn't have another minute. Jean looked down on her to see she looked alot more paler and she was breathing harder then ever.

"Don't you die you brat! Not everything we've just been through! He shouted as he used a huge amount of gas to surge forward at an incredible speed. He had to have been going faster than any soldier have ever gone in their use of their 3DMG. The wall was within reach for Jean to shoot his rods out on it and Jean shot them as high as they would go.

He jumped off the roof he was on flew high as his rods took him higher and higher over the wall. Jean landed on top of the wall and sprinted towards the other side and jumped off the edge, flying fast to the ground. He shot his rods out at the last second so the impact with the ground wouldn't be harsh.

Jean landed ungracefully and definitely pulled a muscle from the impact. Jean began running as fast as his tired and sore legs would carry him, adrenaline rushing through his body.

Everyone he ran past stared at him in confusion to why he was holding a half-dead girl in his arms. He ran and ran until he saw the red plus sign ahead of him. He had made it to the infirmary. He burst through the doors and instantly saw all the wounded soldiers that swarmed the place.

"I need help! My friend is hurt badly!" No one responded to Jean's frantic call as nurses rushed passed him. Jean furrowed his brows, gritted his teeth and took in the biggest breath he could.

"I NEED A FUCKING DOCTOR RIGHT NOW!" He screamed as loud as he could. Silence fell upon the room as everyone stared at the out of breath Jean. A doctor an a team of nurses walked up to him with, all covered in blood that belonged to their injured patients.

"What happened to her?" The doctor asked as he opened her eye and flashed a light in her eyes. The nurses behind him went to grab a gurney and the doctor took Naiyamé from Jean's arms. He was reluctant to let her go but he did so anyway.

"She got swat by Titans. Is she gonna be okay?" Jean asked frantically. The doctor had his back against Naiyamé as he inspected her more. He then raised his hand and the nurses rushed away with Naiyamé. The doctor began to walk in their direction but Jean ran in front of him and grabbed him by his shoulders to stop him.

"Hey! I asked if she was gonna be okay now tell me!" Jean yelled at the doctor. The doctor sighed calmly and slowly removed Jean's hands off of him.

"I don't know son. Shes lost alot of blood. She also has a pierced lung, multiple broken ribs, and a bad concussion. The chances of her survival are low." The doctor then walked away and went back to work, leaving Jean standing there heartbroken.

The doctors unkind words tore at Jean. Jean stood there in silence for a few moments before he raised his hand to look at the dried blood that covered them. Blood that belonged to his precious Naiyamé. Jean dropped to his knees and stared at his bloodied hands as he felt his lungs constraint, and it became harder and harder to breath. Jean felt arms on his back saw someone crouch down next to him to realize it Marco.

"Jean! Are you okay?" Marco asked as he patted his friends back. Jean the world around Jean seemed to go by in slow motion. Jean felt like he couldn't breathe anymore and he started to shake like a leaf. Jean lowered his head to the ground and gritted his teeth so hard. He tried with all of his might to not cry but he was failing miserably as tears ran down his face.

"Dammit..." He mumbled under his breath as he curled his hands into fists.

"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!" Jean repeated over and over as he slammed his fist into the ground.

"Jean stop it!" Marco said as he grabbed Jean's fist to stop him but he was too strong.

"Calm down Jean!" Marco sad he wrapped his arms around Jean put him in a headlock. Jean thrashed around for a bit before he stopped and calmed his shaking body. Marco released his grip on Jean and knelt in front of Jean and placed his hand on Jean's shoulders. Jean sniffled quietly as an endless stream of tears ran down his face.

"I..." Jean said, struggling to form words.

"Don't want her to die..." Jean quietly choked out. Marco looked up and a saw a bitter-looking Garrison soldier walk up to him and Jean.

"What the hell are you doing crying like a pussy on the ground. I don't see you missing any limbs. Stand up and report back to the Garrison." He coldly said. His harsh words angered Marco.

"Hey! Our friend is hurt and hes just upset!" Marco half-yelled at the soldier.

"I couldn't give a single fuck about your friend. If they die, then they die. Simple as that." The bitter man replied back. Jean opened his eyes, shocked from the words of the Garrison soldier. He raised his head and wiped his tears and slowly stood up, his head looking down at the ground.

"Hey..." Jean said quietly. The Garrison soldier got a smug look on his face.

"What did you just say?" Jean asked calmly.

"Tch. You heard me. If a soldier dies then let them die. Besides, anyone who ends up in the infirmary is likely a shitty soldier to begin with. They're just wasting our food and-" The Garrison soldier didn't finish as Jean slammed his fist against the soldier's face. Knocking him out cold and making him fall to the ground.

"Jean! You shouldn't have done that!" Marco protested as he rested his hand on Jean's shoulder.

"Marco..." Jean said calmly.

"What?" Macro said with concern.

"We should report back to the Garrison." Jean replied back.

"Yeah.." Marco said with concern. Jean started walking away and Marco stood there for a few moments before he chased after Jean.

"Naiyamé. You can't die. You won't die." Jean thought to himself as he walked forward, curling his hands into fists.

* * *

Warning, Jean has turned into a badass now. Reviews, favorites, and follows are much appreciated! :)


	33. Pleading

_After Jean and Marco left the infirmary, the Garrison ordered Jean and the other witnesses to keep what they saw secretive from everyone else until they would be asked to share. They were given time to rest from their ordeal._

* * *

Jean sat leaned against a pillar that was providing little shade for him, drinking a sac of water provided for him. He was tired and dirty. His jacket was stained with sweat and blood. His arms were sore from the precious weight he was carrying earlier. He watched the frenzy of soldiers rush pass him. Some were being carried away with blood covering their bodies. Some he saw were already covered by the white cloth resembling the loss of life.

Jean imagined himself standing over a body that was covered by that white cloth, he slowly lifted the cloth to see Naiyamé's pale and eternally sleeping face. The horrid image caused Jean to choke on his water a little and have a aggressive coughing fit. Jean ran his fingers through his hair while he closed his eyes.

"Dammit..." Jean mumbled as he let his hand rest on the back of his head. Images of Naiyamé flashed through his mind.

_"Hey, last one to the cafeteria has to do 3 laps"_

"I'm not strong..."

_"I'm not going anywhere, okay?"_

"I couldn't protect you..."

_"I thought...that...I thought that you and Marco were gone!"_

"I was a coward..."

_"I can't."_

"I need to become stronger." Jean whispered to himself as he gritted his teeth.

"It's all over!" Jean heard a panicked voice yell which caused him to open his eyes and see the commotion.

"Stop!" Marco yelled. Jean looked up to see Marco trying to control the man's breakdown.

_"Yeah, I can see why they needed to put out that gag order. Just take a look at the state they're in now. If they found out about Eren too..."_ Jean mentioned to Reiner and Berthdolt standing behind him, trying to get his mind off Naiyamé. His thoughts and all of the commotion around him though ceased when everyone heard the sound of a cannon go off.

"Cannon fire? Why'd they fire just one shot?!" Jean said frantically as they all tried to pinpoint where the sound came from.

"Hey, look at the smoke...It's inside the wall! A soldier said pointing at the smoke.

"Why?"

"How?"

"What the hell?!"

"Did They breach in the inner wall?"

"That's the sturdiest one of all!"

"This can't be happening."

"I'm sure it was just an accident."

"Still..."

"What's with all that smoke?"

Worried and frantic soldiers mumbled as they questioned the cannon fire.

"No way... Is that Titan vapor?!" Jean said in disbelief looking at the smoke. Believing that the Titans breached this wall as well. Reiner ran up in front of him, shot his rods out and lunged himself forward to investigate the cannon fire.

"Hey!" Jean shouted to Reiner as the others decided to follow.

"Hey!" He shouted again to them as well, deciding to follow his comrades too. He dashed forward to see the growing cloud of black smoke rising higher. His comrades ahead of him stopped and stared at something. Jean caught up to them to see what they were all staring at. And what he saw was just another strange surprise. Garrison soldiers were surrounding a huge Titan that only had it's upper torso and only had it's bones and a few bits of muscle.

_"What the hell is going on?"_ Jean thought to himself as he looked at the strange beast. He looked down at the Garrison soldiers and they all looked terrified of the Titan. Jean couldn't see much through the smoke though. All of the Garrison stood by on guard, prepared to attack if need be.

_"Did you do this Eren?"_ Jean questioned to himself. Suddenly, everyone heard a metal clang from within the smoke and saw a figure run out of it. The Garrison raised their blades and tensed as the figure got clearer and clearer. The figure finally showed itself to everyone. It was Armin.

"Armin?" Annie questioned out loud.

"Stop!" The Garrison captain yelled as Armin ceased moving, raising his arms in the air.

"You finally showed your true colors monster! I'll signal! I'll signal the cannon!" The captain threatened Armin.

"Look! Mikasa and Eren are in the smoke!" Reiner pointed out. Jean looked at both of them. Eren looked pale. Both of them we're worried about the situation. Although Jean was still a little confused by the situation, he believed he understood what was going on.

"He isn't the enemy of mankind! We're willing to share all of the intelligence we've gathered!" Armin replied back to the captain's threat.

"Begging for your lives is useless now! He revealed his true form right in front of us! There's nothing else left to say! If you say he's not an enemy, prove it! If you can't do that, I will eliminate the threat!" The captain threatened back.

"I think I know what's going on." Jean said out loud as his fellow comrades looked at him.

"The Garrison must've been frightened by Eren and they shot a cannon ball at them. That's what the sound was that we heard. But Eren transformed to protect themselves. That's what caused the smoke that we saw." Jean finished saying.

"There's no need for further proof! The issue isn't how we see him!" Armin continued with his argument against the captain.

"What?!" The captain said in disbelief.

"You said everybody saw him! They must've seen him fighting the Titans too! And they must've seen all the Titans ganging up against him! The Titans see him as prey, just like the rest of mankind! Nothing you say can change that fact!" All of the Garrison soldiers began to lower their guard at Armin's words, all of them quietly mumbling.

"That's true..."

"A Titan as an ally..."

"That can't be..."

"Prepare to attack! Don't fall for this clever trap! Their actions have always been beyound our comprehension! If they can transform into human and speak our language, that's just another way for them to fool us! We can't let them do as they please!" The captain argued against, wiping away the Garrison soldier's doubts. All of the soldiers raised their weapons against Armin, Mikasa, and Eren again.

"It can't be... They're all completely clouded with fear..." Jean said quietly. He looked at Armin who had the look of shock and defeat on his face. Armin looked to Eren and Mikasa as if apologizing quietly while Mikasa and Eren nodded quietly. Armin gritted his teeth and slammed his fist on his chest as hard he could in the military salute. His face was full of determination and anger.

"As a soldier, I swore to devote my heart to the resurrection of mankind! There is no greater glory than dying for that belief! If we added his power to the might of our armies, it might even be possible to recapture the town! For the glory of the human race, I beg you! In my final moments before I die, permit me to explain his strategic importance!" Armin screamed to the top of his lungs. Everyone was silenced by Armin's desperate plea.

"Captain, we should consider wh-" The awed soldier tried to reason with the commander but was cut off by the captain.

"Silence!" The captain turned his head to the soldier and screamed. He raised his arm slowly and high into the air. Jean noticed a Garrison soldier speed walking up to the commander. As the captain began to swiftly lower his arm down for the command to aim fire, his arm was caught by the man Jean saw walking up to him.

"Cut it out already. You haven't changed. As big as you are, you've still got the guts of a scared fawn." The elderly Garrison man said.

"Commander Pixis?" The captain replied back.

"Can't you see how magnificent his salute is? I just arrived, but the situation has already been relayed to me. You go organize the reinforcements. I think it's be worthwhile to hear what they've got to say." The commander finished saying as Armin fell to knees, tears forming in his eyes of how grateful he was the commander stopped the irrational captain. Jean sighed in relief that he wasn't going to see more of his comrades die in front of him. Even if he wasn't very fond of them.


	34. Will of Fire

_After the ordeal of Eren and the Garrison, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin were taken into the custody of Commander Pixis. Jean and the other soldiers we're ordered to report to the inner wall of Trost_

* * *

"No! I don't want to die! Let me se my family!" Jean looked over to see it was the same man he saw earlier screaming. Marco stood next to the man and tried to calm him down like he did earlier.

"Hey, Daz, you're being too loud..." Marco said to the petrified man.

"You there! I heard you!" Jean turned his attention from Marco and Daz to see a Garrison soldier walking to Daz. Daz was gripping his head and kneeling on the floor, tears forming in his eyes. Jean may have been a trainee but he knew that the look that Daz wore meant he lost the will to fight the Titans and fear had taken over his body. The Garrison soldier stood over the kneeled soldier.

"Are you saying you want to abandon your mission?" The Garrison soldier tried to intimidate him.

"That's right! This is nothing but mass suicide! It's meaningless!" Daz said immediately. To him, any punishment given by the military would never be as severe as being devoured alive by a Titan. The Garrison soldier gripped onto the handle of his blades, prepared to give the frightened soldier the capital punishment.

"Have no respect for humanity? For order? If I chose to, I could execute you this minute." The Garrison soldier tried to frighten Daz back into order.

"Go ahead... It's a hundred times better than being eaten alive by the Titans!" Daz drew his blade out, ready to kill himself if it meant he didn't have to face the Titans. Marco quickly gripped onto Daz's shoulders, trying to stop any unnecessary blood from being spilt.

"Stop it, Daz!" Marco shouted.

"No! Let me go! I won't go back there!" Daz shouted back panicking.

"Did you hear that?"

"Given the circumstances, I don't blame him..." Jean heard various soldiers mumble about the incident.

"Hey.. I hope someone rebels over here, too." Jean heard a girl mention in front of him.

"I'd at least like to choose how I die." The girl standing next to her replied.

"Hey!" A soldier standing next to them yelled. The girls tensed up and looked at the soldier.

"I-It was a joke!" One of the girls tried to defend herself.

"Do it..." The soldier replied back to her in a serious tone. The girl looked confused by the soldier's request.

"Be loud... And get the others to go along!" The girl seemed frightened by the soldier's command. Jean looked at both of them in shock of how so many soldiers were being consumed by fear.

"In the Garrison, plenty of us aren't happy, either. We'll take advantage of the chaos and leave!" The soldier proposed.

"Leave go where?" Jean questioned the soldier.

"To see my daughter. Eventually, this wall will also fall." The soldier replied back. Jean decided it was better to stay quiet and await orders than to be accused by the Garrison for treason so he looked away from the man and instead looked at the giant wall in front of him. The sun was setting and even with all of the calamities that happened today, Jean couldn't help but admire the colors the sky was showing off.

_"You would like this view, Naiyamé..."_ He quietly thought to himself. He prayed that she was going to be okay. The sunset the Heavens were displaying reminded Jean of when Marco, Naiyamé, and him would sit on top of a tree and stare at the interior walls. All of them hoping to see what was inside those glorious walls.

"Kill me! If you're going to execute me, do it now!" Jean was brought back to reality by Daz's screaming.

"You sure? I'll do it!" Jean heard a soldier reply back.

"Attention!" Jean looked up to see Commander Pixis standing on top of the wall, demanding the full attention of all of the soldiers. His shout was loud enough for every soldier to hear even with how high he was. The screaming and commotion ceased when everyone heard the Commander's call.

"I shall now explain the plan to retake Trost. For this mission, our objective is to seal the hole where the gate was destroyed." Everyone stared in shock at the Commander's announcement.

"Seal it? How?" Jean heard Marco mumble. Jean was in disbelief too at the thought of the sealing the giant hole in the wall.

_"He can't be serious. Seal it?"_ Jean thought to himself.

"Let me introduce you to the one who will seal the hole for us... From Trainee Corps, Eren Jager." The Commander stated as he introduced Eren who was giving the military salute.

_"What?! Eren?!"_ Jean questioned to himself..

"E-Eren!" Connie shouted in surprise.

"He is the result of a top-secret project to turn humans into Titans. He can create and control a Titan's body." The Commander paused to let the information sink into the disbelieving soldiers.

"He will become a Titan, pick up the giant boulder by the shattered gate, carry it over, and seal the hole. Your job will be to protect him from Titans while he moves the boulder!" The Commander finished explaining.

_"That's...not possible..."_ Jean was thinking in shock. He was still trying to register the fact that Eren could transform into a Titan. But even if that is true, it wouldn't be possible for Eren carry that boulder all the way to hole, right?

"You're lying! I won't put my life on the line for a plan I can't even understand! What do you think we are? We aren't... We aren't pawns for you to sacrifice!" A hysterical Daz screamed out.

"A human weapon? He's lying! He's telling us to die here, today! I'm leaving!" The cowardly soldier said that Jean was talking to a few minutes ago. The girls he tried to scare into shouting left too.

"Me, too."

"And me!"

"I'm out of here, as well!" Many of the soldiers complained together as they all left, having no will to face the Titans again.

"Ready to die, traitors?!" Jean looked over to see the squad leader that almost killed Eren had drawn out his blades and was racing towards the leaving soldiers.

"I'll kill you right now!" He threatened the already frightened and confused soldiers.

"Here is my decision!" Pixis shouted to cease the chaos.

"I shall pardon anyone who deserts now. Once you succumb to the Titan's fear, you can never fight them again. Those who have learned that fear should leave. And anyone wishing their parents, siblings, and loved ones to feel that fear should also leave!" All of the leaving soldiers stopped dead in their tracks at the last words Pixis said.

"There's someone I love..." Jean mumbled as he lowered his head and looked it his hand that had little drops of dried blood that belonged to someone precious to him. All of the leaving soldiers had regained their courage and will to fight and they all began walking back. Jean gritted his teeth and tightened his hand into a fist and looked up at the wall.

"And I want to protect them!" He shouted. The Titans would not hurt her again and Jean was going to make sure of it.

"Let me tell you what happened four years ago. About our attempt to retake Wall Maria. As I'm sure you're all aware, that operation was no more than the government's way of dealing with it's inability to feed all of the unemployed. It was a culling. The reason no one speaks of it is because by sending them outside these cramped walls, we were able to survive within them. All of humanity, including myself, bears the weight of that sin! Because so few escaped Wall Maria, there was never any open rebellion. But what about now? If Wall Rose falls, the sacrifice will be more than just twenty percent. The territory within Wall Sina won't support even half of the remaining population. If humanity falls, it won't be because we were devoured by the Titans. It will be because we killed each other. We must not die even deeper within the walls. I beg of you to die right here!" Silence covered the crowd at the Commander's words.

Jean looked up and saw the beautiful colors ravishing the sky. He closed his eyes as a light breeze brushed through his hair and glazed his face. Images of Naiyamé danced in his mind once more. He imagined doctors and nurses huddling over her weak body, trying to save her life.

"Naiyamé..." Jean whispered.

_"I won't die here. I'll make it back for you. So please..._" Jean slowly opened his eyes to look at the fiery sky again.

_"Be alive when I came back for you!"_ He tightened his hands into fists and walked with other soldiers. Prepared to face the Titans once more.

* * *

Sorry for not updating this in awhile guys. I've been ridiculously busy and I haven't had time for myself but I finally had some time today to spare for myself so I made the new chapter. Hope you guys liked it :)


	35. Second Thoughts

_As the green flare was shot into the air coming from the elite squad that was assigned to go with Eren, it was the signal meaning that the operation has begun and the plan was being put into action. Jean along with his comrades were randomly assigned to distract the invading Titans and to draw them near the edges of the wall to draw them away from Eren. Jean jumped from roof to roof, conserving his gas as the Titans followed him in pursuit._

* * *

_"This wasn't how I thought my life was going to be..."_ Jean thought to himself as he shot his rods out to a high tower and reeled himself forward, landing gracefully on the tower. He looked all around him as the chaos was splattered across the terrain. Multiple homes that housed families and their memories earlier in the day were nothing but piles of rubble now. Jean could even see the dismembered corpses of his comrades spotted on the floor. The smell of death and smoke filled his nostrils which made him scrunch up his face in disgust.

"Disgusting..." Jean mumbled as he brought sleeve to cover his nose in hopes of blocking out the horrendous smell but to no avail. But then, Jean saw something abrupt into the sky to see it was a flare. A red one. The mission had failed. Jean drop his jaw and stared at the red smoke in horror.

"What? The mission failed?" Jean furrowed his brows and gritted his teeth as he aimed his blade in the direction where the flare had come from.

"Eren! You can't do this you asshole!" He shouted but then felt the ground shake beneath him as he saw that multiple Titans were clawing at the tower that he was standing on, trying to get their hands on their desired prey.

"Shit!" Jean yelled as he jumped off the tower and landed on the roof of a house that was right next to the Titans. Jean felt the muscles in his legs tense in pain at the height he had to jump from. Jean looked behind him to see a giant hand reaching for him so he quickly got up and started running, ignoring the searing pain in his legs, sweat trailing down his body. Jean was getting closer and closer to the wall and was within reach to use his 3DMG and so, he shot his rods out to cling to the wall and pull himself up to the safety to the top of the wall to see Marco standing on it.

"Jean!" Marco shouted as Jean landed clumsily, his legs giving out to the pain they've endured which caused him to fall to the floor. Jean let go of his blades and grabbed onto his thigh as he tensed in pain.

"Are you okay?" Marco said with concern as he helped his friend sit up. Jean didn't answer his question as he gritted his teeth in pain.

"The mission failed." Jean announced to Marco as he moved his hand to his knee. Marco stared at him in confusion. Jean looked up at Marco and then pointed to the direction the flare came from to see a very faint trail of red smoke in the sky.

"It can't be..." Marco said in shock as he watched the last little bit of smoke disappear from the flare. Jean moved his hand down to his shin and felt an immediate amount of intense pain which caused him to flinch from touching and grunt in pain. Jean leaned back and let his body lay limb on the ground.

"Jean!" Marco shouted in concern as he turned his attention back towards his friend after hearing his discomfort and pain. Jean's chest rose and fell calmly as he stared at the sky.

"She doesn't love me." Jean said as he watched a flock of birds fly over him. How he wished he could be as free as a bird and not have to worry about being the choice of prey for the Titans.

"Huh?" Marco looked at him confusion.

"I told her I loved her at when we all met at Headquarters and she just ran away from me." Jean explained, hoping that Marco would understand what he was talking about. Marco looked at him and sighed with a smile on his face.

"Well I meant you should tell her you love her when human kind isn't being threatened by Titans. I think she had a lot going through her mind when you told her that y'know?" Marco explained to Jean. Jean let out a chuckled and sighed with a slight smile.

"Yeah. I guess it wasn't the greatest choice of time to tell her that." He responded. But then a realization made his smile fade.

"But what if she doesn't make it?" Jean asked Marco but a different voice answered his question.

"She will make it." Jean and Marco look over to see Armin walking over to them, out of breath.

"The only reason I'm alive is because of her. I was only a few feet away from the grasp of death but she dashed in with no hesitation or fear and saved me. It takes a lot of courage and bravery to do that. She has something most of the soldiers here don't have. She has the will to fight." Armin walked right behind Jean's head and stared down at him.

"She will survive." The only thing that broke the silence surrounding the trainees was a cool gust of wind. When the wind died down, Armin looked forward and started running.

"Hey! Armin! Where are you going?" Marco yelled to Armin.

"I'm going to help Eren! I saw the red flare, something must be wrong!" Armin shouted back as he kept running as fast as his weak body would carry him. Marco looked into the direction where are Armin ran off before turning his attention to Jean once again.

"Come on." Marco said as he helped Jean sit up and slung Jean's arm over his shoulder. Jean squinted from the pain as he stood up. Jean slumped against Marco as he tried to stand up.

"We need to get you to the infirmary." Marco said as they both began to walk forward.

"Hey Marco." Jean stated.

"What?" Marco asked.

"Do you remember the time when we were kids and we convinced Naiyamé to play Princess with us?" Jean asked with a smile on his face at the thought of the good memory.

...

_"What?!" Naiyamé said with disgust._

_"Please, Naiyamé?" Marco begged as he got down on his knees._

_"Why can't Jean be the princess? He's the most girly." Naiyamé bluntly said._

_"Shut up! Besides, you're a girl so you're the princess. I'm a boy so I'm a knight." Jean retorted back._

_"Please, Naiyamé? You can be a knight next time?" Marco offered._

_"You promise?" Naiyamé asked. Marco smiled and held out his hand. Naiyamé smiled back and looked down at her palm and spat into it and gripped Marco's hand tightly. Marco squirmed a little in disgust which made Naiaymé and Jean laugh._

_"Gross! Naiyamé!" Marco squealed as he pulled his away and wiped it on his pants. Naiyamé climbed the tree that they used all the time to look at the interior wall. The bark where they always scraped with their shoes was worn down, marking the tree as theirs. Marco and Jean grabbed their sticks that they broke off the branches earlier and took their places. Jean stood in front of the tree and Marco faced Jean. Jean looked up at Naiyamé sitting in the tree with a grin on his face._

_"Do not fear young princess. For I, Jean Kirschtein will defend you from this invader and will rightfully claim the thro-" Jean did not get to finish his sentence as Marco swung his stick at Jean's stick and knocked it out of his hand. Jean abruptly turned his attention back towards Marco. Marco was smiling at Jean swinging his stick back and fourth._

_"Always keep your eyes on your opponent Jean." Marco stated with a grin. Naiyamé jumped down from the tree and ran towards Marco and Jean._

_"Thank you for saving me young knight." Naiyamé said as she leaned towards Marco placed a kiss on his cheek. Marco cupped his cheek as he chuckled a little as his face turned red._

_"Hey! Why does he get a kiss?!" Jean asked with a hint of jealousy. Naiyamé laughed and turned towards Jean._

_"Because the princess is supposed to kiss her hero." She explained. Naiyamé suddenly grew a grin on her face and walked closer to Jean._

_"Aw. Did the other knight want a kiss too?" Naiyamé asked she raised an eyebrow. Jean blushed a little but tried to defend himself._

_"Wha-what?! Gross! No! Who-who would want to kiss you?!" Naiyamé frowned and raised her fist and brought it down on Jean's head. Jean gripped his head in pain and looked up at Naiyamé as she crossed her arms._

_"Ow! What was that for?!" Jean asked angrily._

_"Hmph!" Was all Naiyamé retorted as she began to walk away._

_"Naiyamé, where are you going?" Marco asked with concern._

_"Home!" Naiyamé shouted in the distance. Marco sighed and looked at Jean who was rubbing the top of his head._

_"What?" Jean asked._

_"You never really learn do you?" Marco sighed as he rested a hand on his soldier._

...

"Hey! What are you two doing?!" Jean's thoughts of past were interrupted by a harsh voice. He looked up to see bitter looking Garrison soldier.

"I'm taking my friend to the infirmary. He hurt his leg and is incapable of fighting the Titans." Marco said calmly trying to explain the situation. The Garrison soldier scanned Jean up and down looking at his condition.

"I don't see any missing limbs. Looks fine to me. Now get your ass back down there and fight." The Garssion soldier said heartlessly. Marco stared at him wide-eyed in shock.

"Are you kidding me?! He'll die if-"

"Marco." Jean cut Marco off from talking back to the Garrison soldier. Jean slowly removed himself Marco's hold and stood by himself, his leg crying out in pain but Jean ignored it.

"I can still fight." Jean looked at the Garrison soldier straight in the eyes, meeting up the harsh man's expectations.

"Don't play the hero, Jean! You can't fight with-"

"I can!" Jean yelled as he turned to Marco. Marco had a worried expression on his face as he looked at Jean.

"But..." Marco said quietly but never finished his retort.

"Marco, don't worry. I'll be okay. I've been doing the opposite of being a hero my whole life. I'm tired of being the coward and villain." Jean walked near the edge of the high wall and drew out his blades.

"It's time to be a hero now." Jean said his final words before he jumped off the wall and fell down at a fast speed. He changed his body in mid-air and was diving nose-forward to the ground. He shot his rods out to nearby buildings moments before he was going to hit the ground and flung himself forward to a Titan that had it's back turned against him. Jean raised his blades behind him with a tight grip and twirled his body as he got close to the Titan's neck and swing them forward with all of his might, making a clean cut to his target. He landed surprisingly gracefully on a roof, hardly feeling any pain in his leg. He didn't know if it was a good thing or bad thing but at this moment, he felt invincible.


End file.
